Jul 22, 2025; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach walks down the hill to the fields during training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Chiefs Could Have Leg Up Entering Draft Process

Originally posted on Kansas City Chiefs on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Feb 24, 2026 12:00 PM ET

One of the biggest needs for the Kansas City Chiefs this offseason comes at the running back position. Over the last few seasons, the Chiefs have not gotten any help from their running backs like they would have wanted to.

That has been something huge because it has made the offense one-dimensional and has not helped star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Every team wants to have a run game and a running back that takes pressure off the quarterback.

The Chiefs can address that this offseason in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Chiefs have a top 10 draft pick, and they could potentially take the best overall player in this year's draft in Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.

Love is the best running back in the draft, and many believe that he is the best overall player in the draft as well. The Chiefs could take him because he could fall because of the teams in front of them not needing a running back and picking a different position.

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Chiefs have a Running Back for the taking

"The best player in the draft may be a running back. Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love is second in Jeremiah’s rankings," said Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. "Both McShay and Jeremiah view Love as the type of back we’ve seen get picked in the top 10 over the past decade-plus: a true three-down guy with the bulk and power to be a workhorse."

"Love draws comparisons to Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson when he was coming out. Jeremiah said his grade on the Irish star was higher than his pre-draft grade on Zeke Elliott, lower than Saquon Barkley’s and similar to Christian McCaffrey’s.

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“This guy’s more Bijan in that he’s silkier, smooth, quicker feet, more athletic than you think,” McShay said. “I think the thing with Love is when he hits a crease— and obviously everyone has the mental image of the CFP game a year ago, the 98-yard run—you see a lot of it on tape, he accelerates and gets two, three steps, and he turns those eight-, 12-yard gains into 25 or a house call.”

"Jeremiah added that what he sees as unique in Love, to create the big plays, is an “ability to make people miss without gearing down, which is very rare.” That is a trait, Jeremiah continued, that’s there in Lions star Jahmyr Gibbs, who doesn’t have the same sort of size/punch as Love. And in the passing game, Jeremiah said, “He’s so fluid and smooth, and he’s got great hands.”

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This article first appeared on Kansas City Chiefs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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