“What if I gave Cam Ward Bijan Robinson?” Louis Riddick makes the Titans’ Jeremiyah Love case

The easiest way to dismiss a running back in the top five is to call him a luxury. That argument shows up every draft cycle, and it usually lands hardest on teams picking near the top because those teams are assumed to have too many holes to justify spending premium capital on a back. Tennessee is sitting in exactly that spot now at No. 4 overall after a 3-14 season, which is why the Jeremiyah Love conversation has moved beyond player evaluation and into a larger argument about team-building.

That is where Louis Riddick pushed back. His point was not simply that Love is a talented runner out of Notre Dame. It was that Tennessee should stop thinking in narrow positional terms and start thinking about what makes life easier for a young quarterback. The Titans drafted Cam Ward first overall in 2025 to reset the franchise. One year later, the more urgent question is how quickly they can build a functional offense around him.

Ward’s rookie season offered both promise and strain. He finished with 3,169 passing yards, 15 touchdown passes and seven interceptions, but his QBR of 33.2 reflected the uneven reality of playing quarterback on a team that struggled to consistently protect, separate and generate easy offense. Tennessee does not need more abstract hope around Ward. They need dependable production around him.

That is what Riddick was arguing about. The Titans are no longer deciding whether Ward can become the face of the franchise. They have already made that bet. The next decision is whether to spend the fourth pick on a player some evaluators view as the most explosive offensive talent in the class, even if the position itself still triggers resistance in modern draft rooms.

1. Louis Riddick Says Jeremiyah Love is Cam Ward’s Missing Link and Not a Draft Luxury

ESPN’s draft outlook for the Titans explicitly connects the roster to the need for another young playmaker for Ward, and multiple draft analysts have linked Love to Tennessee at No. 4. This is no longer a fringe idea. It is one of the defining debates at the top of the board. Asked on Get Up about the common argument against taking a running back that high, especially for a team like Tennessee coming off a 3-14 season and still needing help at multiple spots, Riddick rejected the idea that Jeremiyah Love should be viewed as a luxury. He framed the Notre Dame star instead as a premium offensive weapon, and from there made the case in blunt terms.

Then he continued, “There’s been an argument that’s been made that says, look, the number one way to take a quarterback and make him make a huge jump from year one to year two, or any point in his career, is give him a legit number one wide receiver. How about if I just give you a legit number one weapon? Hmm? How about if I just give you that? What if I gave Cam Ward Bijan Robinson? Or if I gave him Jahmyr Gibbs? Or if I gave him Christian McCaffrey? You think that offense wouldn’t level up immediately? Of course it would. He’s in that category.”

2. Jeremiyah Love’s Historic Next Gen Stats and Heisman-Level Explosiveness for the Titans

At Notre Dame in 2025, Love rushed 199 times for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns, added 27 catches for 280 yards and three more scores, averaged 6.9 yards per carry, won the Doak Walker Award and earned unanimous All-America honors. He also finished as a Heisman finalist, which reflects how central he was to Notre Dame’s offense and how clearly his production translated to national recognition. The explosiveness shows up in the supporting numbers too. Love had 39 runs of 10 or more yards last season, the fourth-most among FBS running backs, and described him as a mismatch option for a creative playcaller. That detail aligns with the argument Riddick is making. Tennessee would not be drafting him merely to pile up carries between the tackles. The appeal is the speed with which he can flip field position and change play-calling options. Love earned the highest Next Gen Stats overall draft score of any player in this class and the top mark among running backs in the last 24 years. Age is part of the appeal as well. He is only 20, which adds long-view value to the evaluation. Tennessee is not trying to patch a one-year problem. They are trying to build an offense that can grow with Ward, and that makes long-term explosiveness at a premium skill spot more relevant than it would be for an older, more finished roster. The profile, then, is what has pushed this discussion beyond draft-show novelty. Love is not being floated to Tennessee because he is the best running back available in a weak year. He is being discussed at No. 4 because several prominent evaluators see him as one of the most dynamic players in the entire class, regardless of position. That is why the Titans have become such a natural landing spot in projections.

3. Titans Must Choose Between Roster Holes and Cam Ward’s Explosive Second-Year Leap

The Titans’ board is shaped by more than one need. ESPN’s team draft page lists another young playmaker for Ward as a priority, while also pointing to questions elsewhere on the roster, including center. The NFL’s broader needs breakdown lists offensive line, edge, wide receiver, running back and linebacker among the club’s biggest areas of concern after last season’s 3-14 finish. Tennessee is not lacking alternatives at No. 4. The Titans have a new head coach in Robert Saleh and a football operation led by president Chad Brinker and general manager Mike Borgonzi. They hold nine picks, starting at No. 4 overall and No. 35 in the second round, which gives them room to address multiple roster layers across the weekend. The question is whether they want the first pick to solve for broad roster deficiency or for offensive acceleration. There is a clear case for the latter. Tennessee used the first overall pick on Ward a year ago because quarterbacks change the direction of franchises. Once that investment is made, the next phase is not only about protection and patience. It is also about reducing friction. A player who creates chunk gains from the backfield or detached alignments can do that in ways that are visible every Sunday, especially for a quarterback still adjusting to pro speed and structure. Riddick is asking the Titans to think beyond the label and toward the effect. If the organization believes Love belongs in the same offensive-impact conversation as the names he invoked, then the usual “bad team can’t take a back that high” rule stops being a rule and becomes a hesitation test. Tennessee’s answer will reveal how aggressively it wants to build Year 2 of the Ward era. Tennessee does not have to agree with Riddick. It only has to decide whether it sees Love as a running back, or as the kind of offensive weapon that can change the pace of Cam Ward’s development.

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• Jeremiyah Love
• Cam Ward