Arizona Cardinals break 2 recent draft traditions with Jeremiyah Love

The Arizona Cardinals made the first splash move of the 2026 NFL draft on Thursday when they selected running back Jeremiyah Love third overall. Running backs aren't generally taken that high in the draft. In fact, no running back has been selected that high since 2018, when Saquon Barkley was the second overall pick for the New York Giants.

The decision to draft Love was a break from a pattern that had been set by general manager Monti Ossenfort.

In three drafts prior, his philsophy has been to take players from big conferences at premium positions — positions that analytically make more difference — tackle, EDGE, defensive line, quarterback, receiver and cornerback.

Positions like running back, tight end, guard, off-ball linebacker and safety are considered non-premium positions.

In three drafts, in the first round, Ossenfort had selected a tackle, a receiver and two defensive tackles.

In three drafts, all the Cardinals' first and second-round picks have come from either the SEC or Big Ten.

So drafting Love strayed from two trends. The Cardinals drafted a running back from somewhere other than the Big Ten and SEC. Now, Notre Dame can be viewed as a big-time program, but it is independent of any conference.

Ossenfort seemed pretty married to this philosophy, so selecting Love shows one of two things — either Love's talent was too much to stick to the normal script, or Ossenfort is beginning to change his philosophy.

We will see what happens in Round 2, as the trend for premium positions from the best conferences has also rung true. Will Ossenfort stray a second time?

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