Too early to tell if Conner will be ready for W1

Love is currently dealing with a sprained ankle he suffered in the preseason against the Raiders. Weinfuss said that, based on how he has seen Love used in training camp, Love might be used more as a feature back in “unique situations,” while also noting that Tyler Allgeier was signed to “be that short-yardage, bruising type of back.” This certainly isn’t what fantasy managers who invested third-round draft capital in Love want to hear. It also comes as a bit of a surprise given the 14 touches Love saw in Thursday’s preseason game. While it wouldn’t be surprising to see Allgeier vulture a few goal-line touchdowns, we would still expect Love to lead this backfield in touches by a wide margin while adding plenty of value in the passing game. Fantasy managers shouldn’t balk at whatever ADP slide he might see to his injury, as it could present a nice opportunity to scoop up the talented rookie at a discount price.

We suspected this might be the case when Schefter’s colleague, Jeremy Fowler, reported earlier today that the team is “hopeful” Love can play in Week 1 against the Chargers. This evening, Schefter echoed that phrasing, saying the team is “hoping” he can return in time for the season opener. Love has just under a month to get healthy. He remains a high-upside pick, but RB Tyler Allgeier should be targeted as a bench stash. The Cardinals surprisingly gave Love 14 touches in Thursday’s preseason game. One imagines they might be more conservative with his early-season touch count, assuming he is able to play, but only coach Mike LaFleur knows for sure.

It doesn’t sound like Conner has a great chance of being available for Week 1, and if he’s not yet able to fully practice it’s certainly on the table for Conner to start the year on injured reserve or the reserve/PUP list. Conner took a paycut this offseason and is due $2.35 million guaranteed in 2026 after suffering a season-ending injury in Week 3 last year.

Love apparently also picked up a minor ankle injury, but coach Mike LaFleur said he could have played through it were it the regular season. Whew. Love looked powerful and explosive against the Raiders tonight, at one point showing off a leaping spin move and later a hurdle. The first-round rookie running back out-snapped RB Tyler Allgeier 8-3 on the first drive with QB Jacoby Brissett. The two running backs continued rotating through the second drive, helmed by backup QB Gardner Minshew. Allgeier hung up his cleats after that, while Love played on 8-of-10 snaps on the third drive. If the first-drive snap count is any indication, Love may already have earned the clear-cut starting role in Arizona. His continued participation on the third drive clouds the picture. Hopefully we learn more next week.

Regarding running backs who play “all 65 snaps,” LaFleur says that he has “seen that story when guys are a little bit overloaded,” it hurts them either in the short- or long-term. Fortunately for all involved, not even 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey plays on 100 percent of snaps. He handled 81.6 percent last year, which is extremely high. This is a bit of a straw man argument from LaFleur, who ultimately concluded his comments by saying he wants to keep his running backs fresh and healthy for 17 games. That makes sense, but when a player is taken with the No. 3 overall pick, like RB Jeremiyah Love, we should expect them to eventually settle into a workload in which they are playing on a comfortable majority of snaps. The Cardinals’ coaching staff is seemingly intent on keeping Love’s ADP in check. We’ll take it.

The Cardinals began training camp very early, with both rookies and veterans reporting on July 22nd. Rookie RB Jeremiyah Love is the only other Cardinals back to take first-team reps. Should we now view Allgeier as the season-long lead back? No. Allgeier may end up having standalone value early in the year, but the team drafted Love to be their star. It would even be unsurprising to see Allgeier split first-team snaps 50-50 with Love before the season starts.

The four running backs are Jeremiyah Love, Tyler Allgeier, James Conner, Trey Benson. Given the recent draft capital and financial investments in Love and Allgeier, those two are obviously locks to make the final squad. Conner, 31, and Benson, 24, seem like reasonable trade candidates. Both players’ seasons ended prematurely due to injury. Conner has one year left on his deal. Benson has two. Love should take over the starting role soon enough, but perhaps the RB2 battle could take a while to sort through. Weinfuss believes “Conner and Benson won’t roll over easily and give their jobs away.” If they do indeed keep four running backs, and one player were to miss time, this might make for a tough waiver wire read.

Graziano could only be referring to James Conner and Trey Benson. He noted that Conner took a pay cut this offseason, which could signal that he’s still in the Cardinals’ plans, making a Benson deal potentially more likely. That seems unlikely, though, considering Arizona brought in Tyler Allgeier and Jeremiyah Love this offseason. Conner is still working off to the side with trainers at practice as he recovers from ankle surgery, but if he can return to the practice field soon then a trade could be in his future. Graziano mentioned the Bengals and Giants as teams that could be looking for running back help.

Conner suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 3 last year. Earlier this offseason, he agreed to a revised contract that pays him $2.35 million this year. The Cardinals signed RB Tyler Allgeier to a two-year, $12.25 million deal one day later, before spending the No. 3 overall pick on former Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love. If Conner can resume practicing soon, it might increase the odds of a running back-needy team acquiring him via trade.

After playing behind Bijan Robinson in Atlanta for the past few years, Allgeier signed a two-year deal with Arizona worth $12.25 million this offseason, hoping to function as the lead back. There’s vanishingly little chance of that coming to pass after the Cardinals used the third overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Notre Dam RB Jeremiyah Love. “The Cardinals went ahead of took [Love] I think to the surprise and disappointment of Tyler Allgeier,” Schefter said. Arizona’s backfield is shaping up to be messy for fantasy purposes. James Conner is still in the mix, and with the big-bodied Allgeier profiling as a solid short yardage and goal line option, it remains to be seen how big Love’s role will be. Love, at worst, should get much or all of the backfield’s pass-catching involvement in 2026.