Jeremiyah Love

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.

The Arizona Cardinals have selected RB Jeremiyah Love with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Fantasy Impact

There were questions for the past couple of weeks as to if Arizona would potentially trade back and if they don't, whether they address their defense or grab Love. This will be an interesting backfield from a fantasy football perspective if they end up keeping James Conner. They also signed Tyler Allgeier in free agency. This will be a backfield to continue to monitor the rest of the offseason to see if any other moves are made in that their backfield. Love should play a big immediate role either way.