Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love Goes #3 to Cardinals
PITTSBURGH, PA.–Former Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the third overall pick in the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh Thursday night.
Love is the highest-drafted running back since Saquon Barkley went #2 in 2018. Among his many honors were the 2025 Doak Walker Award. That award goes to the top running back in college football every season. Love became the first Notre Dame running back to win that honor.
Love was also a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. That award went to former Indiana Hoosier quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza went #1 to the Las Vegas Raiders.
He also earned unanimous All-American honors in 2025.
With Love going third and Ashton Jeanty being picked by the Raiders with the sixth overall pick in 2025, this is the first time since 2017 and 2018 that running backs went in the top 10 in back-to-back drafts.
In Love’s final season for Notre Dame, he ran for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns. That ranked eight and third in the country respectively. He also eclipsed 100 yards in six of his 14 games. In one of those games, Love reached 228 rushing yards in Week 8 against USC. He also rushed for 94 yards in two other games.
The Cardinals did not get a 100-yard rushing performance out of any of their running backs last season.
Love impressed scouts at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis by running a 4.36 40-yard dash. As of now, Love will be sharing a backfield in Arizona with James Conner, Trey Benson, and Tyler Allgeier.
