
Jeremiyah Love is, without a doubt, the best running back prospect of the 2026 Draft class. But if the Kansas City Chiefs think they can rejig their ground game with him, then Todd McShay has some bad news for them.
On Monday’s episode of Up & Adams, the analyst and podcast show host said he foresaw the Notre Dame alum going as early as third overall to the Arizona Cardinals, the NFC’s $5.5-billion (according to Forbes) cellardwellers:
“I don’t think (he) gets out of the top five, and it won’t shock me if he’s the third pick in this draft.”
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The Athletic’s Jesse Newell also believes that Love might not be Chief:
“As far as running back goes … the Chiefs can attack that differently. That position is flush with free-agent talent, and [general manager Brett] Veach’s consistent philosophy has been to address base needs before the draft so he can pivot depending on how the board falls.”
He continued:
“In other words, the Chiefs will not pigeonhole themselves into having to take Love at No. 9 because they ignored the position in March. There will be an addition before then who could serve as a starting running back for the Chiefs, even as they look to solidify that spot in the draft.”
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Ryan Clark compares Jeremiyah Love to multiple elite NFL RBs ahead of 2026 draft
There has been much praise towards Jeremiyah Love in the fallout of the Combine, and Dan Orlovsky took it one step further by calling him, not Fernando Mendoza, the best prospect of the 2026 class.
He was joined by former Super Bowl-winning safety Ryan Clark, who compared Love to some current NFL running backs in a short video for the Pivot Podcast:
“Dude averaged 9.1 yards carry against light boxes, 6.9 yards per rush, and actually four and a half after contact ’cause he’s that dang talented. We talking Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley. We’re talking Jamir Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Derrick Henry, all of these dudes that we put at the top of the top, he goes into conversation with them next year.”
The 2026 NFL Draft will be held form April 23 to 25 in Pittsburgh.