The Arizona Cardinals went all in on offensive firepower at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft, using the No. 3 overall pick on Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and handing first-year coach Mike LaFleur an instant playmaker. The move injects big-play juice into the backfield and reignites the endless barstool argument about whether a top-five pick should ever go to a running back, especially on a roster with plenty of other needs.
Cardinals make the bold move at No. 3
With the third pick, the Cardinals officially turned in the card for Love, the 6-foot, 212-pound back out of Notre Dame. According to NFL.com, he brings rare big-play ability to Arizona's skill group, with a profile built on burst, contact balance and a relatively light college workload that helped him climb into the top of the draft. The message from Arizona's war room is pretty clear: they wanted a home run threat, and they were willing to pay a premium to get one.
College résumé: production and awards
Love arrives in the desert with the kind of college résumé that makes scouts lean forward. Per Notre Dame's official site, he started each of the Irish's 16 games in 2024, earned unanimous All-American honors and won the Doak Walker Award while racking up 1,372 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in 2025. The bio also lists St. Louis as his hometown and notes a career full of long scores and "home-run" plays that pushed him into the conversation as one of the most talked-about offensive prospects in this class.
Why Arizona pulled the trigger
The pick caught plenty of draft analysts leaning the wrong way, with many expecting Arizona to shore up edge rusher or offensive tackle instead. As explained by Sporting News, the Cardinals appear to have prioritized immediate offensive upside over positional value, betting that Love's presence will force defenses to adjust. The thinking is straightforward: if he is dangerous enough to pull safeties into the box and stress linebackers in space, the entire offense opens up. The selection signals a pivot toward a system designed to generate chunk plays through a dynamic skill group rather than grinding slowly down the field.
Reaction and what it means
The reaction came fast and split down familiar lines. Some see Love as the kind of difference-maker you gladly grab in the top three, while others are already side-eyeing the positional value calculus. CBS Sports notes that Love is the earliest running back drafted since Saquon Barkley in 2018 and that his draft slot brings one of the largest rookie guarantees at the position, a contract reality that only cranks up expectations for immediate production. How quickly he can handle meaningful snaps will go a long way toward determining whether this becomes a franchise-defining building block or a high-risk swing that invites second-guessing.
Next up for Love is a quick transition from draft-night spotlight to the daily grind. He will report to the Cardinals facility for rookie minicamp and begin learning LaFleur's playbook while competing alongside the veterans already in the room. As reported by FOX 10 Phoenix, Love said, "I'm looking forward to getting to Arizona" after hearing his name called, a short line that still fits with the team's vision of him as an immediate contributor. Spring practices and training camp will determine how prominently his receiving chops and open-field skills feature in an offense that clearly expects him to bring some fireworks.
