Jeremiyah Love Fantasy Football ADP Check: Where To Draft Him In 2026

The Arizona Cardinals surprised the draft world by snagging top RB Jeremiyah Love with the No. 3 overall pick. The landing spot threw a little cold water on the excitement of owning the 1.01 in rookie drafts, as fantasy managers had hoped the dynamic Notre Dame back might fall to a more high-functioning offense, like the Commanders or Saints. Instead, he joins a Cardinals team that ranked 23rd in scoring and second-to-last in rushing last season.

Still, Love enters 2026 as the first rookie off the board, currently going at Pick 23 in Underdog drafts in fantasy football ADP. Love offers drafters a fairly wide range of outcomes for a Round 2-3 turn pick, and his dual-threat upside will be in high demand.

Let's look at Love's 2026 fantasy outlook and whether he's worth such a premium fantasy pick.

Jeremiyah Love Earned Rare Draft Capital

NFL teams simply do not use top-five picks on running backs anymore. Bijan Robinson, who went No. 8 overall to the Falcons in 2023, is the only other RB to go in the top-10 since the Giants spent the No. 2 pick on Saquon Barkley in 2018.

The combination of a somewhat shallow 2026 rookie class and Love's dynamic playmaking ability forced the 6-foot, 214-pound RB into consideration. Reports suggested that he was unlikely to fall past the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants, the two teams selecting directly after the Cardinals.

Love earned such an investment with two spectacular seasons in South Bend, winning the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back and earning a spot among the Heisman Award finalists. Love rushed for 1,372 yards as a true junior on 6.9 yards a pop, adding another 280 receiving yards and scoring 21 total touchdowns in 2026. The 20-year-old is an excellent receiver and already a capable pass-blocker, a true three-down back.

Arizona Cardinals Offer Bell-Cow Role In Suspect Offense

Love should waste little time taking full control of the Arizona Cardinals' backfield with only Tyler Allgeier and James Conner in his way. But the Cardinals are coming off a disastrous season, trailing so often that they led the league in passing attempts per game. Arizona needs help on the offensive line and to find its quarterback of the future.

For now, new head coach Mike LaFleur will have to make do with the likes of Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew and Carson Beck. Garbage-time production counts, but it's a tough way to make a living in the fantasy streets.

Such caveats aside, Love is the type of running back that just might be recession-proof. Like Barkley during his early Giants years, it is within Love's range of outcomes to handle both passing-down and goal-line work. Recall that Barkley promptly finished as the overall RB1 as a rookie in 2018 on a team that went 5-11.

Fantasy Football Projections for Jermiyah Love

Our fantasy football projections are rightfully high on the Cardinals' rookie: 993 rushing yards, 414 receiving yards and 8.3 TDs for 246.5 PPR points. That line comes in at RB13 in the projections, which is also where he slots on Underdog right now between Chase Brown and Josh Jacobs.

Fantasy Life's floor, median and Xfinity best ceiling projections look like this:

Floor Projection: 12.5 | 14.2 PPG
Median Projection: 14.1 | 15.9 PPG
Xfinity Best Ceiling Projection: 17.1 | 19.1 PPG

Dwain McFarland's Rookie Super Model suggests an extremely high floor for Love, with 100% of his comps finishing as a top-six fantasy RB by Year 3.

Should You Draft Jerimiyah Love at ADP?

The back half of the second round offers fantasy managers a number of intriguing options. Brock Bowers and Trey McBride will be enticing for Hero-RB drafters who might already have Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs on their rosters. Bell-cow backs Josh Jacobs and Travis Etienne have secure roles on much better offenses. And plenty of quality WRs are still on the board.

Love should be a target for anyone who uses an early pick on a wide receiver, offering RB1 upside to pair with the likes of Ja'Marr Chase, Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. His ADP could easily rise a couple of spots as drafters choose his youth and upside over late-second-round tight ends and wide receiver production that can be found a few picks later in the early third. Plus, deep leaguers will feel just fine about pairing Love with a stud RB they took early, too.

Considering the draft capital and Love's ability to score points in any game script, the downside risk (Ashton Jeanty 2025) is well worth the cost at Pick 23.

Players Mentioned in this Article

JeremiyahLove
RBARI
Proj
218.5

Published May 11, 2026, 6:45 ET