The Cardinals made Jeremiyah Love the 3rd overall pick in the 2026 draft and backed it up with a 4-year, $53 million deal that's fully guaranteed, the largest guarantee ever handed to a running back. That's the kind of investment that's supposed to come with a clear runway to the ball. Instead, Love has spent camp answering questions about a crowded backfield instead of running away from one.
Love himself sounds happy with how he's being used schematically, crediting head coach Mike LaFleur for building the run game around what he does well rather than forcing him into a system. That's a real endorsement from a rookie who put up 40 total touchdowns over his last two years at Notre Dame and ran a 4.36-second 40 at his size. The talent was never the question.
The question is opportunity. Arizona's first depth chart of the preseason listed Tyler Allgeier as the No. 1 back with Love behind him, and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett has so far declined to hand Love the job outright even with James Conner sidelined by foot surgery. Add it up and you've got a top-3 pick with a historic contract who isn't guaranteed to lead his own backfield in touches Week 1.
That disconnect is exactly why fantasy drafters are split. Love is going in the 2nd round of a lot of fantasy drafts on name value and draft capital, but some rankings have him closer to a No. 13 running back based purely on early-season role. It's the classic rookie-RB trap: the talent says workhorse, the depth chart says timeshare.
Fantasy analysts on FF Happy Hour debate whether the alarm over Love's role in Arizona's offense has gotten overblown.
Not everyone thinks the panic is warranted. Barring injury, it's hard to imagine a $53 million investment sitting on the bench once the games actually count, and depth charts in August are notoriously more about protecting a recovering veteran's ego than forecasting Week 1 usage. Still, until Arizona actually hands him the bulk of the carries, Love's fantasy ceiling stays capped by a question mark instead of his own ability.
For now, the story is a tug-of-war between what Love is saying in interviews and what Arizona's coaches are willing to commit to on paper. He likes the scheme. He trusts LaFleur. The Cardinals just haven't made it official yet, and that gap is what's driving every fantasy debate around him this month.