EA Sports College Football 26 was supposed to be the triumphant return fans had waited years for. Instead, a devastating bug is threatening to sink the ship before it even reaches shore.
While the game’s official release day is today — Thursday, July 10 — many gamers have had three days or early access to test the game out and look for bugs and glitches. Players are discovering a position change glitch that almost completely destroys Dynasty mode, turning five-star recruits into three-star disappointments with a single roster move.
What Makes This College Football 26 Bug So Frustrating?
College football content creator Bordeaux broke the news that sent shockwaves through the gaming community. He highlighted the issue on X, warning players to “Stay away from position changes until it’s fixed or until you’ve progressed a player about as high as you want to.”
Stay away from position changes until it’s fixed or until you’ve progressed a player about as high as you want to
It’s adding 30+ skill caps, nerfing potential, no matter where you move them. This was put in place to prevent making a HB a LG who could progress to like a 90 OVR,… pic.twitter.com/LvFlQTkwbU
— Bordeaux (@bordeauxyoutube) July 10, 2025
The problem is brutal in its simplicity: any position change triggers massive penalties that destroy a player’s potential.
“It’s adding 30+ skill caps, nerfing potential, no matter where you move them,” Bordeaux explained. “This was put in place to prevent making a HB a LG who could progress to like a 90 OVR, but should NOT be for stuff like LT to LG.”
The community response was swift and brutal. Fans flooded social media with their frustrations, revealing this wasn’t the only problem plaguing the game. One player shared another Dynasty mode bug.
“Hopefully they fix the bug in online dynasty’s where when you upgrade a player it says they’re on a different team and you have to back out of the player and go back in to upgrade again.”
The anger kept building. Another frustrated fan said, “So many bugs still in the game. Gameplay still has so many issues. I can’t believe the content creators paid by EA misled us.” Meanwhile, others demanded answers, writing, “So is it something they are going to try and fix soon?”
Some fans didn’t hold back their criticism of EA’s quality control. One player blasted, “These kinds of bugs are just another sign of EA’s laziness. There is no world where that should get through.”
They continued, “I mean who actually tests these modes? You mean to tell me no one actually played a few franchise seasons? Because if they had, they would have easily discovered this.”
The sentiment was perfectly captured by one fan who summed up the community’s feelings.
“The amount of bugs right now is a little disappointing.”
While these are valid criticisms — these bugs should have been figured out before launch — the game’s official release was Thursday, meaning the version players have been playing likely hasn’t even had it’s release-day patch. Also, in modern gaming, bugs like these can be ironed out in game updates.
How Does This Position Change Bug Actually Work?
The technical details make the situation even more frustrating. A detailed breakdown on the EA Forum explains exactly how the bug destroys player potential. When you move a player to a different position in Dynasty mode, the game slaps on dozens of skill caps that permanently limit their growth.
Here’s where it gets really painful. Even minor position changes trigger the same devastating penalties. Moving a five-star elite left EDGE to right EDGE after the season creates a massive penalty that adds skill caps across the board. This effectively turns your top-tier recruit into the equivalent of a three-star player with average potential.
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The bug doesn’t discriminate between extreme position changes and logical ones. Whether you’re trying to turn a halfback into a lineman or simply moving a left tackle to left guard, the game punishes you the same way. The system was designed to prevent unrealistic position switches, but it’s catching every single move in its net.
This creates a nightmare scenario for Dynasty mode players. Position changes are fundamental to roster management, allowing coaches to adapt their schemes and maximize player potential. When that core feature becomes a trap that destroys your best players, the entire mode becomes unplayable.
The timing makes everything worse. College football fans have been waiting for this game’s return, and now they’re discovering game-breaking bugs just as the full release approaches. If EA can’t fix this quickly, it threatens to overshadow what should have been a celebration of the sport’s return to gaming.
