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The Arizona Cardinals weren’t just on the clock Thursday, April 23, shortly after the start of the 2026 NFL Draft.
They were under the gun, and that giant spotlight blinding them square in the face was the rest of the NFL and football-loving fans across America ready to give them the third degree about what they were about to do with the third overall pick.
We can all put the interrogation to rest now. The Cardinals absolutely did the right thing.
They couldn’t find a worthy enough trade to move down, the prospect that would have made the most sense from a positional value standpoint, edge rusher David Bailey from Texas Tech, was drafted right ahead of them at No. 2, and they took the best option available to them by selecting former Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
They just landed their next Larry Fitzgerald. Read that again, because it’s true.
Maybe it was the ghosts still haunting the franchise for passing on Adrian Peterson in 2007. Team owner Michael Bidwill, general manager Monti Ossenfort and new coach Mike LaFleur knew they couldn’t afford to leave a dynamic, do-everything playmaker like Love hanging around for someone else to snatch.
It was a pick that not only can provide some real juice to a team that’s been swimming in irrelevance but will create some legitimate new and improved options for LaFleur’s offense in Arizona. The 6-foot, 212-pound talent with grit, breakaway speed and electrifying pass-catching abilities was the prospect I’ve wanted the Cardinals to take for months.
I wrote about how LaFleur should “pound the table” to convince his bosses that Love was the right choice for Arizona. A few hours before the start of Round 1, I ran into LaFleur in the parking lot of the team’s Tempe training facility.
He waved hello and shouted with a smile, “I’m going to pound that table today!”
It might not have been necessary. According to Love, he had a pretty good idea he was going at No. 3 to the Cardinals right after Bailey went No. 2 to the Jets.
“It is not a surprise to me,” Love said right away in his conference call with Arizona reporters. “I had great dialogue with Monti about a week ago, and after David got picked, I kind of had an inkling I was going to the Cardinals, and it’s just a blessing being able to have the opportunity to go to Arizona.
“I’m ready for it. I’m ready for the opportunity. I’m just ready to work.”
If he can duplicate some of the magic he displayed in the past two seasons for the Fighting Irish, Love is going to become a Valley hero. It goes well beyond just selling a ton of jerseys and luring back a healthy portion of disgruntled season-ticket holders who have thrown up their arms in angst.
The young man can ball. We’ve seen him score from everywhere. He accounted for 40 touchdowns from scrimmage since 2024 — the most of any FBS player. His 2,497 rushing yards during that span rank third behind only Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy (3,000) and Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty (2,601).
He brings much more than mere statistics to the desert, though.
“There’s so much he can do,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman told ESPN a couple of hours before the first round began. “The value he brings is not just the run game, but the pass game, protection, lead blocker. There’s not many things he can’t do. He has the ability to run through you, jump over you, to stay on his feet and when he’s spinning off a guy he’s so athletic. He’s freaky athletic, is what I tell him.
“I always say he’s a unicorn, and man, whoever gets him is going to get a great player.“
Love said he “hit it off” with Ossenfort and LaFleur from the very beginning of the pre-draft process, saying, “They believed in everything that everyone was saying about me, they got to me, and I just showed them who I am and was being authentic.”
It’s understandable that skeptics of the pick will argue No. 3 was too high to draft a running back on a team with plenty of other holes to fill, especially when clubs can find a decent enough option at tailback later in the draft. It’s also fair to question why the Cardinals decided to add another running back to an already crowded room that includes James Conner, Tyler Allgeier, Trey Benson and Bam Knight.
Here’s why Jeremiyah Love makes sense for the Cardinals: Because he was the best player available — some have said the best player available in the entire draft class — and yes, he can and will help this organization win games.
Love plans to prove it, noting the heavy expectations now on his shoulders at a position many draft experts say isn’t very valuable.
“I have the opportunity to really set a new standard for running backs,” he said. “We’ve already had Saquon (Barkley), we’ve had Bijan (Robinson), we’ve had Ashton Jeanty, and now you have me. It’s my job, and it’s my duty to make sure when I step foot in Arizona that I do what I’ve got to do to best represent Arizona in the right way.
“That’s what I’m going to do coming into the league. I’m going to make sure I represent the right way. I’m very blessed to have this opportunity, and I’m just going to work and do what I need to do.”
Love said he won’t demand getting 20-plus touches a game, saying, "however many it is, we’re going to do great things.” That includes “win some games and potentially win a Super Bowl as well.”
“I’m on the hunt for something greater than this,” he said, “and that hunt is never going to stop.”
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B on ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM) and every Thursday on the Doug Franz Unplugged podcast via Apple or Spotify.
Sign up for our free newsletters at https://profile.azcentral.com/newsletters/manage/ for complete coverage.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The Arizona Cardinals' 1st pick can and will help them win games
Continue reading...
They were under the gun, and that giant spotlight blinding them square in the face was the rest of the NFL and football-loving fans across America ready to give them the third degree about what they were about to do with the third overall pick.
We can all put the interrogation to rest now. The Cardinals absolutely did the right thing.
They couldn’t find a worthy enough trade to move down, the prospect that would have made the most sense from a positional value standpoint, edge rusher David Bailey from Texas Tech, was drafted right ahead of them at No. 2, and they took the best option available to them by selecting former Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
They just landed their next Larry Fitzgerald. Read that again, because it’s true.
Maybe it was the ghosts still haunting the franchise for passing on Adrian Peterson in 2007. Team owner Michael Bidwill, general manager Monti Ossenfort and new coach Mike LaFleur knew they couldn’t afford to leave a dynamic, do-everything playmaker like Love hanging around for someone else to snatch.
It was a pick that not only can provide some real juice to a team that’s been swimming in irrelevance but will create some legitimate new and improved options for LaFleur’s offense in Arizona. The 6-foot, 212-pound talent with grit, breakaway speed and electrifying pass-catching abilities was the prospect I’ve wanted the Cardinals to take for months.
I wrote about how LaFleur should “pound the table” to convince his bosses that Love was the right choice for Arizona. A few hours before the start of Round 1, I ran into LaFleur in the parking lot of the team’s Tempe training facility.
He waved hello and shouted with a smile, “I’m going to pound that table today!”
It might not have been necessary. According to Love, he had a pretty good idea he was going at No. 3 to the Cardinals right after Bailey went No. 2 to the Jets.
“It is not a surprise to me,” Love said right away in his conference call with Arizona reporters. “I had great dialogue with Monti about a week ago, and after David got picked, I kind of had an inkling I was going to the Cardinals, and it’s just a blessing being able to have the opportunity to go to Arizona.
“I’m ready for it. I’m ready for the opportunity. I’m just ready to work.”
If he can duplicate some of the magic he displayed in the past two seasons for the Fighting Irish, Love is going to become a Valley hero. It goes well beyond just selling a ton of jerseys and luring back a healthy portion of disgruntled season-ticket holders who have thrown up their arms in angst.
The young man can ball. We’ve seen him score from everywhere. He accounted for 40 touchdowns from scrimmage since 2024 — the most of any FBS player. His 2,497 rushing yards during that span rank third behind only Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy (3,000) and Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty (2,601).
He brings much more than mere statistics to the desert, though.
“There’s so much he can do,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman told ESPN a couple of hours before the first round began. “The value he brings is not just the run game, but the pass game, protection, lead blocker. There’s not many things he can’t do. He has the ability to run through you, jump over you, to stay on his feet and when he’s spinning off a guy he’s so athletic. He’s freaky athletic, is what I tell him.
“I always say he’s a unicorn, and man, whoever gets him is going to get a great player.“
Love said he “hit it off” with Ossenfort and LaFleur from the very beginning of the pre-draft process, saying, “They believed in everything that everyone was saying about me, they got to me, and I just showed them who I am and was being authentic.”
It’s understandable that skeptics of the pick will argue No. 3 was too high to draft a running back on a team with plenty of other holes to fill, especially when clubs can find a decent enough option at tailback later in the draft. It’s also fair to question why the Cardinals decided to add another running back to an already crowded room that includes James Conner, Tyler Allgeier, Trey Benson and Bam Knight.
Here’s why Jeremiyah Love makes sense for the Cardinals: Because he was the best player available — some have said the best player available in the entire draft class — and yes, he can and will help this organization win games.
Love plans to prove it, noting the heavy expectations now on his shoulders at a position many draft experts say isn’t very valuable.
“I have the opportunity to really set a new standard for running backs,” he said. “We’ve already had Saquon (Barkley), we’ve had Bijan (Robinson), we’ve had Ashton Jeanty, and now you have me. It’s my job, and it’s my duty to make sure when I step foot in Arizona that I do what I’ve got to do to best represent Arizona in the right way.
“That’s what I’m going to do coming into the league. I’m going to make sure I represent the right way. I’m very blessed to have this opportunity, and I’m just going to work and do what I need to do.”
Love said he won’t demand getting 20-plus touches a game, saying, "however many it is, we’re going to do great things.” That includes “win some games and potentially win a Super Bowl as well.”
“I’m on the hunt for something greater than this,” he said, “and that hunt is never going to stop.”
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B on ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM) and every Thursday on the Doug Franz Unplugged podcast via Apple or Spotify.
Sign up for our free newsletters at https://profile.azcentral.com/newsletters/manage/ for complete coverage.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The Arizona Cardinals' 1st pick can and will help them win games
Continue reading...
