Introduction: Jeremiyah Love Fantasy Upside is Astronomical
The third overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Jeremiyah Love is an elite three-down prospect, with elite draft capital. Typically, that’s all it takes in fantasy to guarantee both volume and production, and high-end fantasy football outcomes.
Yet, Love is falling to Round 3 in most 2026 fantasy football rankings and ADP lists. People must be worried about the Cardinals’ landing spot. Or maybe Ashton Jeanty’s dreadful rookie season is influencing Price’s cost; the “can’t-miss” Jeanty went as the RB4 in Round 1 last year, but finished as the RB17 in FPPG.
However, Love is currently to the RB13 and Round 3, making the risk far less great, and the reward potentially massive
Let’s dive into Jeremiyah Love Fantasy Outlook, and why he’s an absolute smash pick in the Late Second, Early Third of 2026 Fantasy Football Drafts.
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Jeremiyah Love Prospect Profile and Talent: Actually Generational
In terms of production, Love was phenomenal despite splitting the backfield with Jadarian Price. Over his past two seasons, Love accumulated 3,014 scrimmage yards with 40 touchdowns (!) while averaging 6.9 yards per carry.
During his 2025 senior year, he won the Doak Walker award and was third in the Heisman voting and was an All-American, rushing for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns, averaging 6.9 yards per attempt. He also had 27 receptions for 280 yards and three scores, giving him 1,652 total offensive yards and 21 touchdowns. He had back-to-back seasons scoring 20+ TDs and hitting 1100+ rush yards.
The advanced metrics look great, too. Love’s 52.9 percent breakaway rate in 2025 ranked No. 1 in the power four conferences. He averaged 4.50 yards after contact, trailing only one player nationally. These stats illustrate how Love is perfect, lab-created blend of power, vision, burst, and balance. His 1.83 YPRR, and 27 catches, 280 yards, and 3 TDs last season illustrate his versatility, too.
Per Dwain McFarland’s Prospect Super Model, “There have been five RBs who have garnered a Super Model rating of 87 or higher since 2017, with 100% delivering a top-six finish by Year 3. The cohort averaged 19.8 fantasy points over their first three seasons…He offers an every-down skill set with explosive playmaking ability. His closest comp in the model is Bijan Robinson.”
Per PlayerProfiler, Love drips in 99th percentile speed. He posted a 96th percentile dominator rating (market share of team yards and TDs) despite splitting the backfield!
Well, OK then!
The “Generational” Label gets thrown around too lackadaisically, but Love is a truly special player.
Jeremiyah Love Fantasy Volume Projection
Volume-wise, Love should be OK, too. The Cardinals simply can’t invest this level of draft capital and not ride the RB.
As Cardinals’ Beat Writer Darren Urban notes: “If you draft a running back third overall, he needs to be your bellcow….it starts with Love, whose immense talent will allow him to run, to split out wide, and be a game-changer.”
Over the past decade, Seven RBs have been drafted in the Top-15 of the NFL Draft. They have averaged 290 touches, and mostly been fantasy studs:
Love is a sturdy 6’ and 215 lbs, with an absurd 4.36 forty (99th percentile). He is built to handle bell-cow duties, even if Love was rarely a true bell-cow at Notre Dame.
In fact, Love only hit 20+ touches in four total games at Notre Dame. His splits are incredibly impressive:
When he hit 20+ touches, Love averaged a whopping 186.3 scrimmage yards per game. He scored six TDs in these four games, averaging 7.3 yards per touch. His efficiency did not drop at all, and Love is certainly capable of shouldering the load. He accounted for 31.7% of Notre Dame’s yards and TDs (96th percentile), despite the a limited workload, which showcases just how efficient and explosive this young man can be.
The environment concerns are valid, and I wish Love had landed with the Commanders. Still, I think they may be overblown.
Yes, Arizona’s RB room is fairly deep after they also added Tyler Allgeier. Yet, Allgeier is making less money than Kenny Gainwell, and presents a mere 2.0% cap hit. James Conner is also talented, even at his old age, but is also the perfect veteran mentor. Either Allgeier or Conner could be a goal-line vulture, a role that both have thrived in, but I still think Love can do plenty of damage with explosives and in the passing-game. Ceding some TDs won’t diminish his value by any means.
Based on early preseason usage, Love could be in line for a better workload than most are expecting.
After being rested during the HOF Game, Love smashed in his NFL Debut vs. the Raiders.
Love started the game ahead of Allgeier, and ultimately played 70% of snaps with the first-team unit, including 100% of 3rd downs, 100% of the routes, & 100% of the inside-10 looks. He ultimately racked up 14 touches (3 rec), 72 YFS, looks like the explosive prospect we all love:
Jeremiyah Love’s Environment: Not as Awful as it Looks?
The Cardinals definitely weren’t the most prime location for Jeremiyah Love, but the negativity is likely being overblown. This is especially true after some encouraging preseason performances from the Cardinals’ offense.
Arizona’s line finished 26th in PFF rankings last year, but are now up to 21st in Preseason Line Composite Rankings after adding mammoth left-guard Isaac Seumalo. They also spent the 34th overall pick on guard Chase Bisontis. He was Dane Brugler’s No.2 offensive guard, with a Round 1-2 grade. Brugler praised Bisontis as a run-blocker especially, gushing, “In the run game, he is strong as an ox to torque defenders on down blocks and shows the efficient movements to seal the backside or pick off defenders as a puller.”
Ultimately, ESPN’s Mike Clay is quite bull-ish on this line, with a 15th overall ranking:
Vegas projects the Cardinals to be the second-lowest scoring unit (18.56), and I wish I could bet this over. The Cardinals finished 22nd in points per game (20.9) last year, and I like that LaFleur has spent the past 4 years learning under both Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay.
We’ve actually seen LaFleur call plays during a Jets’ OC stint (2021-22), and while that team was a dumpster fire, we had some promising signs, particularly if we remove Zach Wilson’s starts.
Across 12 Mike White and Joe Flacco starts, LaFleur’s Jets averaged 305.5 passing YPG, which would have led the NFL last year. They were outpacing the Prime Mahomes Chiefs, too!
That happened largely because LaFleur was willing to unleash a high-volume pass attack into negative game scripts. The team averaged over 46 attempts in those games, and the 60.6% pass rate ranks 6th-highest among all playcallers with a full season or more to their name since 2021, and he ranked top-6 in pace in both years with the Jets.
So maybe last year’s epic, league-high 70% pass rate and +4.0% Pass Rate Over Expectation isn’t as unsustainable as everyone keeps saying. Brissett just led the NFL in dropbacks per start (45.8), and may be in line to do so again.
Through two preseason games, LaFleur’s offense and especially the passing game has been cooking. They’ve posted 30 and 27 total points across two weeks, and all the QBs — whether Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew, Carson Beck or even Kedon Slovis— have all looked solid:
As a unit, the Cardinals have completed 50/59 pass attempts (85% completion) for 494 yards, and 5 TDs. They have averaged over 131 passer rating, too!
As the former Rams’ OC, LaFleur has clearly been influenced by Sean McVay. The easy-button looks are abundant, with tons of motion.
Plus, the defense certainly sucks. In 2025, they just allowed the 4th most points per game and 7th most EPA/Play, retained the DC (Nick Rallis), and added no splashy free agents or Day 1 or 2 draft picks. They will likely find themselves trailing early and often, especially with a 4.5 total over/under.
I’d be stunned if Love, who averaged 1.83 YPRR, isn’t heavily featured as a pass-catcher and the exclusive third-down RB (like he was in Preseason Week 1). That’s how it’s unfolding in early camp:
LaFleur has also been OK riding a rookie RB in the past. When he was OC of the Jets, LaFleur had a rookie Breece Hall clearing 66% of the snaps and 20+ touches per game by Week 4.
If he hadn’t had a season-ending injury in Week 7, Hall probably would have averaged 18.0+ FPG his entire rookie year. He was fresh off back-to-back 20+ FP efforts, and was seeing especially promising usage as a pass-catcher.
Jeremiyah Love Fantasy Outlook: Smash in Late Second, Early Third
Ultimately, the Cardinals’ landing spot carries some stink, and rightfully so. Allgeier is no slouch, and the team is reportedly hell-bent on “easing Love” in and “not overloading him.
When asked about the electric Love, OC Nathaniel Hackett, the ultimate dolt, replied, “Well…he’s a rookie.” I honestly have to downgrade Love just because of how dumb Hackett is.
Yet, the trailing game scripts will likely help Love, the line has Top-15 upside, and LaFleur has shown a tendency to ride an explosive rookie back while also leaning into the pass. If Preseason Week 1 was any indication (starter, 70% of snaps with starters, 14 touches in a half), Love will see plenty of action within an offense that might be getting severely underrated
Rookies with this pedigree, and this draft capital, typically see too much volume to truly fail.
Love is simply too good of a prospect to fall out of Round 2, and the situation isn’t as bad as most think. In fact, it could be incredibly juicy, and mimic last year’s garbage-time pass-circus, but with an actual rushing threat.
Chase Love at the end of Round 2, and any time you land him in Round 3, be thankful. He’s about to bless fantasy lineups and make us wonder why people (other than The Wolf, of course) overthought him.
Love lands at 22nd overall in my 2026 Fantasy Football rankings, and is a Must-Target in my 2026 Fantasy Football Draft Guide.
Support The Wolf and keep this content free! His 2026 Fantasy Football Guide is the best yet, and for just $25, you will get all his Round-by-Round Targets, Fades, and Strategy. Find all the league-winners with the guide YOU NEED!
