The Arizona Cardinals are in search of an identity right now, someone who can help fill the seats and mover the merch. Enter rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, who Arizona selected third overall out of Notre Dame, in this past April's draft. We recently had a pretty long stretch in which we weren't seen running backs go very high in the draft.
Saquon Barkley went 2nd overall, out of Penn State, to the New York Giants in 2018. Sandwiched between him and Bijan Robinson (8th overall, out of Texas, to the Atlanta Falcons in 2023), we didn't see any RBs go up at the very top of the draft. The position was simply devalued by the league.
After all, you know all the cliches- "it's a pass-first league," "it's a quarterback-driven league" etc. And while it still "all starts with the quarterback," the running game is back in vogue, and elite rushers are once again highly sought after. Ashton Jeanty went 6th overall, out of Boise State, to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025.
And as the 2026 draft neared, Love all but knew getting selected 3rd overall by Arizona was in the cards for him. A predraft phone call from Cardinals General Manager Monti Ossenfort tipped him off.
“I kind of expected it towards the end, maybe a week before the draft,” Love said in an exclusive with Ratings.org. “I got on a call with Monti, and Monti’s our GM, and we sat down and talked for a little minute, and it was a great conversation. (Prior to that) the Cardinals didn’t hit me up during the whole draft experience, so we kinda knew what was going on.”