Why the nerds hate the Cardinals' Jeremiyah Love selection

Why the nerds hate the Cardinals' Jeremiyah Love selection originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The 2026 NFL Draft has become the closest thing to a national holiday, and on the football calendar, no day conjures up more optimism.

So there's nothing wrong with being excited about your team's pick, enticed by upside and willing to let the naysayers wait until September. But before the losses arrive this fall, analysis is bound to humble the masses.

And the analysts hate the Arizona Cardinals' first-round pick.

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Jeremiyah Love sparks harsh criticism

With the third pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Cardinals took arguably the class's most talented player, Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love.

Despite the talent, highlights and identity he'll bring to Arizona, it will almost certainly be graded as one of the worst picks of Round 1.

That's not an indictment of Love's talent. But in a salary cap league, surplus value is king, and there's little room for upside by taking a running back. From a positional value standpoint, running back is towards the bottom of the spectrum. Good running backs don't create rushing offenses by themselves, and on bad teams, they are often held back by below-average offensive lines.

History hasn't been kind to these selections. The New York Giants taking at No. 2 in 2018 defined a half-decade of disappointing football. When he left for the , the improvements in his environment paved a path to a historic season. Just last year, struggled to get off the ground on a team destined for failure.