Who is Jayson Ball? Why Ohio State has 9 fake players in new EA Sports College Football game
Fans of OSU have a wealth of talent in the game, including sophomore receiver Jeremiah Smith (98 overall rating) and safety Caleb Downs (96 overall rating) adorning the cover, but those who have secured the game's early deluxe edition are a little baffled by a running back named Jayson Ball, a sophomore from Cleveland with an 87 overall rating as an elusive bruiser.
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More: Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith, Caleb Downs top-rated players in EA Sports College Football 26
Well, he's fictitious along with eight other video Buckeyes whose ratings aren't close to Ball's. Meanwhile, 11 members of OSU's incoming class are missing, including five-star cornerback Devin Sanchez and running backs Anthony Rogers and Isaiah West.
How did this happen?
The answer is multi-pronged, including a likelihood that a sizable number of players didn't opt into EA Sports' name, image and likeness contract despite the company increasing its NIL payout from $600 plus a deluxe edition of the game in 2025 to $1,500 plus a deluxe edition in 2026.
Other actual players who have been excluded might have committed to a school late in the recruiting process or transferred too late via the portal for inclusion in the 2026 game's opening rosters.
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Not having those players creates voids within an 85-man roster, and that's when Jayson Ball walks or rolls into Ryan Day's virtual office via programming magic.
Speaking of Day, he's one of more than 300 actual coaches whose likenesses are now included in the game as a series first. As for missing and made-up players, there are likely more than you may think with 136 Football Bowl Division programs in the game.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day leads Ohio State out of the tunnel. Real life coaches will be in EA Sports College Football 26 for the first time.
That is a lot of roster holes to fill, and Ohio State's nine pretend players might not be a lot comparatively. It's a pittance compared to West Virginia, which has 43 actual players who aren't included. That's half of the Mountaineers' roster comprised by fillers.
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The good news for purists is the game's editing function.
Those with time to edit can transform fictitious players into actual players by adjusting names, heights, weights, positions, ratings, and other traits. Once the game's standard version is released July 10, EA Sports programmers are expected to issue update patches at some point to correct rosters.
Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has an overall rating of 98 in the latest EA Sports college football game.
In the meantime, Buckeyes fans can form a strong 1-2 punch in their backfield with their new elusive bruiser, Jayson Ball, and Bo Jackson, an actual OSU player not related to the former Auburn/NFL/MLB superstar of the same name.
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Got all that?
Good, now go hit the video gridiron.
Dispatch reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: EA Sports College Football 2026: Why Ohio State has 9 roster fillers
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