“He’s Not a Generational Player,” Jordan Rodgers Fires Back at Jeremiyah Love’s No. 3 Draft Buzz

Arizona goes on the clock Thursday night with the No. 3 pick, a 3-14 team record behind it, no declared starting quarterback yet, and a roster that still has holes on the edge, along the offensive line and in the middle of the defense. That is why Jeremiyah Love became one of the most contested names in the top five.

The closer the 2026 NFL Draft gets, the harder it is to dismiss Love as just another star college running back. The former Notre Dame standout has moved from being the best back in the class to one of the names attached most aggressively to the top of Round 1, with the Arizona Cardinals at No. 3 sitting at the center of the conversation.

Love did not get here on hype alone. He arrived with a Doak Walker Award, unanimous All-America honors, a Heisman-finalist season, and a production profile that made him one of the most explosive players in college football over the last two years. He has 199 carries for 1,372 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in 2025, plus 27 catches for 280 yards and three touchdowns.

A top-three argument around Love already existed. NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein mocked Love to Arizona at No. 3 on April 22, writing that if the Cardinals cannot trade the pick, they could “stick and take their best available, regardless of positional value.” Daniel Jeremiah, in his final mock, went a step further and wrote that if Arizona stays at No. 3, “I think Jeremiyah Love is the pick,” even though his trade-down scenario ultimately moved the Cardinals elsewhere

1. $50 Million TOO MUCH? Jordan Rodgers SHREDS Jeremiyah Love’s Draft Value as Cardinals Face Historic Blunder

College football expert Jordan Rodgers appeared on ESPN’s Get Up, where he said “Under no circumstance can you take Jeremiyah Love number three. You’re gonna owe him $50 million in guaranteed money, that is more than Saquon (Barkley), that is more than Christian McCaffrey, more than Derek Henry.” Then he continued, “You can’t do this especially when you don’t have a quarterback, you don’t have an offensive identity right now. You can’t add a player like that and expect to take the next step. He’s not a generational player.” Rodgers was not swatting away a fringe mock. He was pushing back on an outcome that had already shown up in prominent reporting. Zierlein had Love third overall one day earlier, and Jeremiah had explicitly identified Love as the Arizona pick if the Cardinals stayed where they were.

2. Jeremiyah Love’s SHATTERING Notre Dame Records and Monster Stats Justify Top-3 Pick

Love’s draft case was built on two seasons of starter-level production, but 2025 is why he reached the top shelf of the class. His numbers mattered to evaluators because the workload was heavy enough to prove feature-back value without the kind of inflated carry total that usually drives college rushing titles. The output was not empty either. Love was the only player in the nation to finish the regular season top three in scoring, total touchdowns and yards from scrimmage. He also averaged 6.9 yards per carry and was the only player in the country to clear 1,100 rushing yards while averaging at least 6.6 per carry. The single-game spikes matched the season totals. Notre Dame highlighted his 228-yard game against USC, the most rushing yards by a Notre Dame player in a game at Notre Dame Stadium, and his 171-yard, three-touchdown day on only eight carries against Syracuse. Those details matter because top-of-the-draft backs are usually sold on explosive-play volume, not just carry counts. The historical markers are part of this story too. Love set Notre Dame’s single-season program record for total touchdowns with 21 and tied the school’s single-season rushing-touchdown record with 18. He also became the first player in program history with multiple seasons of 17 or more rushing touchdowns. That profile is why he entered April as more than the first running back on the board. CBS Sports’ declaration story labeled him the No. 1 running back in its prospect rankings and a potential first-round pick back in December. By late April, he was no longer being discussed as a standard first-round runner. He was being discussed as one of the few non-quarterbacks who could change the shape of the top five.

3. Why Drafting Jeremiyah Love Means Ignoring Roster Needs and Risking a Team-Building Disaster

The cleanest objection to Love at No. 3 is not about his talent. It is about who Arizona already has and what Arizona still lacks. James Conner is under contract through the 2026 season, according to the Cardinals’ official roster page, and Arizona also added Tyler Allgeier this offseason. On its own draft-site coverage, the team openly noted that running back is “not considered a cornerstone position” and that the club has other areas where top prospects are needed ahead of running back. The Cardinals have not hidden the broader shape of their needs. Their own draft-week story said cases can be made at No. 3 for edge rushers David Bailey and Arvell Reese, for offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa, or for Love. The same article made clear that trade-down possibilities remain in play and that finding a quarterback later in the draft is still part of the discussion. That makes Arizona a particularly useful team for this argument because the franchise can defend almost any direction it takes. If it drafts Love, it can say it took the best player. If it drafts an edge or tackle, it can say it matched value to need. If it moves down, it can say the board and the roster both demanded more volume than one premium skill-position selection. The Cardinals’ own language around the pick shows why Love stayed attached to them anyway. New coach Mike LaFleur was asked this week about taking a running back early and did not shut the door, saying the goal is to draft “the best football player” who fits the team, “regardless of the position.” That is not a promise. But it is also not the kind of answer that extinguishes a Love-at-3 scenario. That is the tension that Rodgers pointed out. Arizona is one of the few teams high enough to draft Love and unstable enough elsewhere to make the move controversial. If the Cardinals were sitting at No. 12, the discussion would be about fit. At No. 3, it becomes a referendum on team-building. What happens next depends on whether Arizona treats Love as a luxury, a weapon or simply the best player left on its board.

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