Jeremiyah Love joins exclusive RB Group

Go back to 1969, one year before the AFL/NFL merger when O.J Simpson went first overall out of USC. Years later we’ve come to realize just how rare it is for a running back to climb that high, even decades later.

That is, until the Arizona Cardinals were on the clock in Pittsburgh.

With the third overall selection, they made Jeremiyah Love out of Notre Dame the 22nd running back to be selected in the top three of the NFL Draft. He enters that rare air a move that immediately places him in one of the most exclusive groups in the sport.

It’s an elite fraternity.

Considering this, Walter Payton went fourth overall in 1975. LaDainian Tomlinson was selected fifth in 2001. Two of the greatest to ever play the position didn’t even crack the top three. Obviously, where you get drafted doesn’t signify your eventual greatness in the NFL, the fact is Love is the second Cardinals running back taken with the third overall pick.

In 1993, Arizona drafted Garrison Hearst out of Georgia and while his career was strong it didn’t live up to expectations of being selected third overall. That’s why in the Olympics’ there is the gold, silver and bronze.

It’s the status of being considered the best of the absolute best.

That’s what makes Love’s draft slot so telling.

Before he’s taken a single NFL snap, his name is already being placed alongside the few backs in league history viewed not just as great players but as franchise-altering ones.

This was a front office making a statement. Because in this era, you don’t take a running back that high unless you believe he’s different. Not just productive. Not just explosive. Different.

Love can impact the game in multiple ways, control tempo, and force defenses to adjust how they play. That’s the part that separates the good backs from the ones taken this high. When you draft a back in the top three, you’re not just filling a position you’re redefining how your offense operates.

Which brings us to the natural question.

If the Raiders already had their quarterback… would Love have gone No. 1 overall?

It’s not as crazy as it sounds, he was considered by some as the best overall prospect in the entire draft class.

Quarterbacks dominate the top of the draft because they have to. Teams without one are chasing relevance. But when that box is checked when a franchise feels stable under center the conversation shifts.

In that scenario, Love has a real argument.

Because unlike most backs entering the league today, he doesn’t feel like a luxury. He feels like a centerpiece. The kind of player you build around, not just plug in. The kind who shortens games, creates explosive plays, and takes pressure off everything else.

Still, history tells us how hard that climb would be.

No running back has gone No. 1 overall since Ki-Jana Carter in 1995. That’s nearly three decades of teams deciding that even the best backs in the country weren’t worth that level of investment. It’s not about talent it’s about positional value in a league that has shifted its priorities.

But Love challenges that thinking.

And that’s what makes this pick so fascinating.

Because whether he would have gone No. 1 or not almost misses the point. Being No. 3 at his position, in this era, is already saying everything you need to know.

This wasn’t normal.

This wasn’t safe.

This was a team betting that Jeremiyah Love isn’t just another running back.

He’s one of the rare one’s worth breaking the rules for.

However, all this doesn’t guarantee, Love is going to the best back in the league. It sure does look like it, but nothing is certain until proved in the National Football League. The list below indicates that success is in his future, but sometimes there are misses.