Titans take gamble in first round of Mel Kiper's updated 2026 NFL mock draft

Momentum appears to be building toward the Tennessee Titans taking Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love with the fourth overall pick in April's 2026 NFL Draft.

On Tuesday, both ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper and NFL Media draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah added their names to the chorus of those projecting Love to the Titans with their most recent mock drafts. 

In 2025, the junior back had 199 carries, 1,372 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns, finishing third in Heisman voting. Yet while he's widely viewed as being one of the top players in the 2026 draft, the idea of the Titans selecting him at No. 4 comes with concern.

Why selecting RB Jeremiyah Love would be risky for the Titans

Most teams with a top-four NFL Draft pick, including the Titans, aren't a running back away from competing for a division title. The seven backs selected in the top 10 since 2015 have combined for nine playoff appearances in 30 seasons with the team that drafted them. Only Bijan Robinson (No. 8 overall, 2023) and Ashton Jeanty (No. 6, 2025), the two most recent draft picks, are with their original teams.

Todd Gurley (No. 10, 2015) and Ezekiel Elliott (No. 4, 2016) experienced the most success with the teams that selected them, combining for six playoff appearances in 12 seasons. Christian McCaffrey (No. 8, 2017) and Saquon Barkley's (No. 2, 2018) best seasons — and most team success — have come since leaving the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants, respectively, while Leonard Fournette (No. 4, 2017) only lasted three seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and winning Super Bowl LV as the NFL's leading postseason rusher.

As great as Robinson has been individually for the Atlanta Falcons, it hasn't translated to the win column, diminishing the impact of his play. Jeanty, meanwhile, struggled behind a terrible offensive line with the Las Vegas Raiders as a rookie a season ago.

The only way drafting a running back in the top 10 works is if a team has a quarterback in place. Titans quarterback Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, showed promise as a rookie yet struggled with accuracy and took way too many sacks, making his development far from a sure thing. Love might seem like he could help, but that hasn't been the case in the past. 

Fournette's arrival in Jacksonville didn't turn Blake Bortles into a franchise quarterback, while McCaffrey's arrival in Carolina couldn't prevent Cam Newton's abrupt decline. Michael Penix Jr. and Daniel Jones didn't benefit much from playing alongside star backs Robinson and Barkley, either.

Even after a major spending spree at the start of free agency, the Titans still have several needs. At No. 4 overall, Tennessee could get one of this year's elite edge-rush prospects to pair with the newly acquired Jermaine Johnson Jr. The Titans could also use a wide receiver to help unlock Ward's full potential.

As talented as Love is, he'd be hard for Tennessee to pass up if available at No. 4. But it's worth considering whether that selection would be better spent on a more pressing need. As constructed, the Titans might not be able to reap the full benefits of the dynamic back's addition. That's often been the case recently for teams that take backs in the top 10. 

This April, selecting Love might be a luxury Tennessee can't afford.