“It makes a lot more sense,” Why Damien Woody believes Washington, not Tennessee, is the right fit for Jeremiyah Love

The argument for drafting Jeremiyah Love high has moved beyond the usual spring-board fascination with speed and highlight plays. In Washington, it touches a more specific question. What happens when a team with a young dual-threat quarterback, a rebuilt offensive front and the No. 7 pick starts thinking about stress points for defenses instead of simply patching holes?

That is the lane Damien Woody stepped into when he connected Love to the Commanders instead of the Titans. The idea was not just that Love is explosive. It was that his skill set makes more immediate sense behind Washington’s current infrastructure, particularly with Jayden Daniels already established as the center of the offense and the Commanders having spent significant capital on the line in front of him.

Washington owns the seventh overall pick in the 2026 draft, while Tennessee sits at No. 4 after a 3-14 season. Love’s numbers are strong enough to put him in that range of the draft conversation. Notre Dame lists him as a 2025 Heisman finalist, the 2025 Doak Walker Award winner and a unanimous All-American after a season in which he rushed for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns, added 27 catches for 280 yards and averaged 6.9 yards per carry.

A running back like Love is most dangerous when the offense can pair him with a quarterback run threat, force linebackers to hesitate and create clean reads in the run-pass option game. A stable front makes that projection more than chalkboard theory. Daniels’ mobility already changes defensive structure; adding an elite back would compound it.

1. Woody Reveals Why Washington’s Offensive Line Makes Daniels-Love Duo “Absolutely Terrifying”

Here’s what Woody said during his appearance at Get Up by ESPN, “Listen, the RPO game last year went down because Jayden Daniels hurt. But could you imagine a backfield with Jayden Daniels and Jeremiyah Love in the backfield? That would… that would be absolutely terrifying.” Daniels sprained a knee in Week 2, hurt his hamstring in Week 7 and suffered a dislocated elbow in Week 9, and Washington ultimately shut him down for the final three games of the season. Then he continued, “And here’s why I like it so much: because the Washington Commanders have been investing resources into their offensive line. It doesn’t make sense for me, like, Jeremiyah Love to go to the Titans because I don’t think the Titans’ offensive line is all that great. But for Washington, it makes a lot more sense and I would love that move.”

2. Is Jeremiyah Love the Game-Changer Jayden Daniels Needs?

The Commanders’ 24-17 win over Philadelphia in the regular-season finale locked them into the seventh pick after a year that unraveled following a 3-2 start, with Washington losing eight straight before finally breaking through again in Week 15. Washington is drafting high enough to land one of the cleanest offensive playmakers in the class, but not so high that every roster decision can be made in abstraction. The Commanders also enter the draft without a second or fourth-round pick because of the trade that brought Laremy Tunsil to Washington, which increases the weight of what they do in Round 1. League draft chatter has reflected that tension. NFL.com’s Mike Band projected Love to Washington at No. 7 in a late-March mock, and Commanders team coverage has repeatedly framed him as one of the realistic premium options attached to the pick. Woody was speaking into a live draft debate already tied to Washington’s slot, Daniels’ development arc and the question of whether the best way to help a young quarterback is not another pass catcher or lineman, but a back who changes the geometry of the offense. The Commanders’ own roster picture leaves room for that conversation. The current depth chart lists Daniels at quarterback and Jacory Croskey-Merritt atop the running back room, a setup that does not close the door on a major addition if Washington believes Love is a true difference-maker. And because Washington’s pick comes after Tennessee’s, Woody’s comparison carried a sharper point. If Love is available at seven, the Commanders would be evaluating a very different supporting cast than the Titans would at four.

3. Why Titans’ “Sack City” Offensive Line Might Waste Jeremiyah Love

Woody’s dismissal of Tennessee as a cleaner landing spot was not just a stylistic preference. The Titans do have a young quarterback in Cam Ward and they did make line additions last offseason, signing Dan Moore Jr. and Kevin Zeitler while moving JC Latham back to the right side. But the 2025 results did not fully validate that rebuild. Ward had been sacked an NFL-leading 48 times, with opponents recording at least four sacks against Tennessee in eight games. That pressure profile helps explain why Tennessee continues to be discussed as an offensive-line-needy team entering this draft. The NFL’s team-needs rundown for 2026 listed the Titans’ biggest needs with the line still in the mix and specifically noted room for improvement up front. Tennessee also has reason to be more cautious about the running back position than Washington does. When asked recently about drafting Love with the fourth pick, Titans coach Robert Saleh praised the type of player Love is but also said he already feels good about Tennessee’s current running back room, which includes Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears. That makes the Tennessee version of the Love discussion harder to separate from positional value and roster sequencing. A top-five back can still be defensible, but not if the offensive environment remains unstable enough to dilute the player’s impact. Tennessee picks fourth, the Giants fifth and Washington seventh. If Love is truly in play throughout that section of the draft, the franchise selecting him is effectively deciding not only how much it values the player, but how ready its current offensive ecosystem is to maximize him.

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• Damien Woody
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