Notre Dame Fighting Irish News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Power Rankings

How high could Jeremiyah Love be selected in 2026 NFL Draft?

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

How high could Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love be selected in 2026 NFL Draft?

By Daniel Morrison | Last updated Mar 24, 2026 2:20 PM ET

Where a player is selected in the NFL Draft is about more than talent. Team needs and positional value are extraordinarily important, too, and as such, running backs are often devalued in the draft, slipping even when they're more talented than those at highly valued positions.

That makes Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love such an interesting player in the 2026 NFL Draft. He is arguably the most talented player available, but at an undervalued position.

Still, ESPN's Field Yates has him going seventh overall to the Washington Commanders in his latest mock draft. Yates doesn't have another running back going until 64th overall. Incidentally, that's Jadarian Price, who also played at Notre Dame. Beyond Yates, in Todd McShay's most recent mock draft, he has the New York Giants taking Love at fifth overall. That's his only first-round running back.

Love has even been floated by experts as a possible second overall pick to the New York Jets. Other league intel has it that the Giants, making their choice at fifth overall, will decide where Love goes.

In other words, if you want a sure thing at running back, you need Love. After that, there are going to be major questions at the position.

Jeremiyah Love has an excellent resume for the NFL

If there's one thing that Love has, it's the resume of a star running back. This comes after he was a star at Notre Dame for multiple seasons.

In three seasons with the Irish, he played in 41 games. All he'd do in that time would be to rush for 2,882 yards on 6.7 yards per carry to go along with 36 touchdowns. In the passing game, Love would add 63 receptions for 594 yards and another six touchdowns.

Then, Love went on to put on a show at the NFL Combine. He ran a 4.36 40-yard dash and a 1.55 10-yard split. That 40-yard dash was second among running backs, and his 10-yard split ended up being fourth.

Where the top running backs are typically selected

The running back position is undervalued in the NFL Draft. It didn't always used to be that case, but it certainly has been in recent seasons, as the quarterback, those who block for the quarterback and those who sack the quarterback have become extremely important.

Going back a decade, only 14 running backs have been selected in the first round. On top of that, in two of the previous four NFL Drafts, no running back was selected in the first round at all. Of those picks in the last decade, only seven have been top-10 selections.

Compare that to quarterbacks, where 35 players have been selected in the first round during that same time. There have also been 42 first-round wide receivers and 42 first-round offensive tackles in the last decade. In fact, tight end and center are the only offensive positions with fewer players drafted in that stretch.

If Love were to be taken by the Jets with the second overall pick, he'd be the highest selected running back since Saquon Barkley in 2018. That would also surpass Ashton Jeanty, who went sixth overall a season ago.

It remains to be seen where Love is selected. Regardless, it's clear he has a chance to be a generational player if he lives up to expectations.

Daniel Morrison

Dan Morrison is a writer originally from Massachusetts, now residing in Florida. He spent four years at On3, working on the National News Desk there. Prior to that, he’s also contributed at Underdog Dynasty.

More must-reads: