Jeremiyah

Love

Love will enter a crowded backfield alongside trusted veteran James Conner and free agent signing Tyler Allgeier. Love’s draft capital and his standout ability will give him a good shot at taking on lead back duties to start the 2026 season, though Allgeier and Conner will be involved. Love will be running behind one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines. A two-year starter for the Fighting Irish, 21-year-old (in May) Love (6’0/212) was without peer in this year’s running back draft class. Totaling 40 touchdowns in 28 games over the past two seasons, Love’s explosiveness is unmatched. His 52.9 percent breakaway rate in 2025 ranked No. 1 in the power four conferences, while his average 4.50 yards after contact trailed only one player nationally. Those fancy stats underscore a rare blend of vision, burst and contact balance. Although Love is indeed a home run hitter, he’s also a complete offensive weapon. His final year in South Bend saw him add to his ground statistics with 27 receptions for 280 yards and three scores, posting a superb 1.83 yards per route run. It was production that stressed linebackers in space. Love’s overall elusiveness spike from 2024 to 2025 reflects a runner who not only dodges the first hit but finishes with authority, combining lateral twitch with downhill violence.

That assumes the Cardinals remain in the three spot on Thursday night. The team has reportedly tried for weeks to deal the pick and had no luck finding viable suitors, thanks in part to the weakness of the 2026 draft class. Love, who had 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns in his final season at Notre Dame, has been linked to several teams, including Arizona, Tennessee, Washington, and the Giants, all of whom have premium first round picks. Love would enter a backfield alongside veteran James Conner and big-bodied RB Tyler Allgeier, who signed with the Cards this offseason after four years with the Falcons. Though Love would function as the team’s lead back, Allgeier and Conner would certainly be involved in the team’s rushing attack in 2026.

“Love is an explosive play waiting to happen and would unlock multiple layers of the playbook that Washington couldn’t access last season,” Reid said, projecting the Commanders to take the former Notre Dame running back with the seventh pick of the 2026 draft. Washington in 2025 ranked 11th in rush EPA, just below the 49ers, and tenth in rushing success rate, in line with the run-heavy Packers. Love in 2025 had 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns and had 39 runs of 10 or more yards, trailing only three collegiate backs. Washington was one of the run heaviest teams in the NFL last season, ranking 28th in early down neutral pass rate.

The question as to where Love should be ranked on a team’s big board remains, however. The running back position is generally placed in the non-premium category, making it difficult for teams to treat them as justifiable picks early in the first round. That said, the positive drumbeats continue for Love, who Raanan yesterday said Giants head coach John Harbaugh “is going to want to draft” if he is available with the fifth overall pick.

Giants general manager Joe Schoen views Love as “an offensive weapon,” not just as a running back, so he may not disagree with Harbaugh in this scenario. That said, Raanan reminds viewers that Harbaugh is ultimately “running the show” in New York. The Giants are also interested in Ohio State LB Sonny Styles and Ohio State S Caleb Downs. Per Raanan, trading back into the Nos. 6-10 range before drafting Downs might be the “perfect scenario” for the Giants.

Schultz adds that if the Cardinals were to keep the pick, their preferred player remains “the biggest mystery” among teams slated to pick in the top five. They have been linked to Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love and recently hosted Alabama QB Ty Simpson for a top-30 visit. Pass rushers like Ohio State LB Arvell Reese and Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey are also in play. If Simpson is the target, trading back a bit while ideally adding a future first-round pick could be their plan.

He added that there is “a lot of smoke there.” The Cardinals pick third, just ahead of the Titans and Giants, who are both in the mix for Love as well. Arizona added Tyler Allgeier to a backfield that already had James Conner and Trey Benson this offseason. Though adding Love doesn’t make much sense given what they already have at running back, the 2026 class is considered weak at multiple premier positions. The Cardinals could simply opt for the best player on their board, which would likely be Love. If they go in that direction, we fully expect Love to eventually emerge as the clear lead back, though it could take some time for him to pull away from the competition.

The Commanders held a big pre-draft Top 30 visit Tuesday, with many top prospects heading to Top Golf as part of a group outing of over 20 players. Holding the No. 7 pick in the draft, the Commanders have quite the list of visiting prospects, though it is absent quarterbacks with Jayden Daniels firmly holding down that position. In addition to top offensive players in Tate, Lemon and Love, the Commanders also hosted top defensive players in Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese and Rueben Bain. What Washington does with the pick is still up in the air, though now nearly an entire round’s worth of prospects can say they’ve played Top Golf in the DMV area.

Per Wolfe, the Titans could also target a pass rusher with the No. 4 overall pick. He adds that multiple teams list Love as the best player in the 2026 NFL Draft. Many would argue that spending a top-five pick on a running back is an improper use of resources for a rebuilding team, but the Titans’ front office could simply view him as a foundational player.

The unnamed individual is said to be someone “who has a say” in what the Cardinals do with the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft. McShay notes the Cardinals are also candidates to trade back a couple of spots to potentially draft Love, though “they still need an offensive tackle [and] they still need an EDGE.” Rotational players like former starter RB James Conner, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury last year, and free agent signee, RB Tyler Allgeier, crowd the Cardinals’ backfield. The combo could keep Love from handling an elite rookie season workload, but they are unlikely to prevent him from winning the starting role this summer. He would likely warrant RB2 treatment right away if the Cardinals were to draft him early in the first round.