Fantasy Football Player Notes

Well, it happened. Jeremiyah Love went top five in the NFL Draft to the Arizona Cardinals, who already have Tyler Allgeier and James Conner on the depth chart. With that type of draft capital investment, I think Love will be Arizona's lead back in 2026, but he could have his workload eaten into by Allgeier and/or Conner. Love's talent isn't in question. Over the last two years in college, he ranked inside the top 15 backs in each season in yards after contact per attempt, breakaway rate, and elusive rating (per PFF). He's also a stellar pass catcher, as evidenced by sitting at 17th in yards per route run among FBS backs last year and drawing a 10.9% target share. The Cards look like one of the worst teams in the NFL, with concerning quarterback play. The cluttered backfield and worrisome scoring environment could hinder Love in 2026, keeping him as a strong RB2, but locking him out of RB1 status. If he does get the lion's share of the work, and their grouping of quarterbacks can produce something close to league-average passing production, Love could be a top-12 back. I'll remain lower than consensus on Love now that he has a high ankle sprain clouding his Week 1 availability and early-season effectiveness.

Tyler Allgeier is a handcuff/late round touchdown dependent flex option again this season. Last year, he was the RB45 in fantasy points per game, but with his eight scores last year, he had eight weeks as a top 36 running back and four games as a top 24 option in weekly scoring. Allgeier will be a thorn in Jeremiyah Love's side like he was for Bijan Robinson for a number of seasons. Last year, among 49 qualifying backs, Allgeier was 36th in explosive run rate, 39th in missed tackle rate, and 43rd in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data).

James Conner is a nice final-round flier in fantasy drafts right now. I still think Conner could get traded prior to Week 1, with Detroit and Green Bay being the likely destinations. Conner only had 32 carries last season before getting sidelined for the rest of the season with a broken ankle. In that small sample, he posted a 19% missed tackle rate, which is quite strong (per Fantasy Points Data). We are only one season removed from Conner posting an RB15 finish in fantasy points per game (2024). In 2024, among 46 qualifying backs, Conner ranked sixth in explosive run rate, second in missed tackle rate, and 11th in yards after contact per attempt. Conner could easily still be an efficient per-touch player in 2026 in the right system. Take the last-round flier and see if it pays off. If he remains buried on the Arizona depth chart, then he's an easy cut candidate prior to Week 1.