Jeremiyah Love Talks Expectations with Cardinals, NFL Draft, Notre Dame and More in B/R Interview

Jeremiyah Love wins, and he doesn't plan on stopping just because he's reached the sport's highest level.

"I plan to come in and do what I've always done, which is make plays and have success," the Arizona Cardinals running back and No. 3 overall pick of the 2026 NFL draft told Bleacher Report. "Every team I've been on, I've had success individually and as a team. I'm a winner. I plan to do everything I can to help this team have success from a running back perspective and by being a good teammate and handling my business off the field."

That is just the mindset Arizona needs after a number of high-profile changes this offseason as it attempts to win its first playoff game since the 2015 campaign.

It hired new head coach Mike LaFleur to replace the fired Jonathan Gannon, released quarterback Kyler Murray and drafted Love with a top-three pick. Drafting the Notre Dame star so early instantly made him one of the faces of the franchise with plenty of expectations on his shoulders, and he can't wait to embrace them.

"Just getting to play and compete against the best," Love said when asked what he is most looking forward to in his rookie season. "In the NFL, everybody's good. There's nobody you're going to see who is a bad player. If you're at this level, you've done a lot to get here and proved you deserve to be here. I'm really looking forward to just competing with the guys at this level."

Jeremiah Love Heisman Reel

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He will be competing alongside a number of talented offensive playmakers.

With Trey McBride, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson all formidable options in the aerial attack, opposing defenses will not be able to stack the box to deal with Love like collegiate defenses did against him at Notre Dame.

That should lead to plenty of running room and the opportunity to compete for awards such as the Offensive Rookie of the Year, but that's not what he is focused on.

"A successful year for me would be winning games and leaving this organization better than I found it," Love said. "I want to make sure we improve from last year. Personally, I want to win some awards, sure, but that all ties in together. The main thing is making sure the team is right and we're progressing in a positive way. That will make it a successful season."

It is LaFleur's job to make sure the Cardinals do progress in a positive way after he helped lead the Los Angeles Rams to the NFC Championship Game as their offensive coordinator last season.

While head coach Sean McVay is heavily involved in the offense as well, LaFleur's unit turned heads as quarterback Matthew Stafford won league MVP for a group that finished first in the league in points per game, yards per game, passing yards per game and first downs per game.

Coordinating an offense like that is going to make an impression, and Love said it is "a huge opportunity to prove to myself that I am who I am" while helping the Cardinals attempt to replicate that success.

"I'm getting to know him more as a person," the running back said of his new head coach. "He's a great person outside of football. In the game of football, he's very smart and detail-oriented. He also cares a lot about his guys. We're building a connection that goes past football. That's what I like about Coach LaFleur."

Building that connection now is all the more important because the Cardinals made Love a franchise cornerstone to build around for years to come by selecting him with the No. 3 pick.

With that No. 3 pick came a historic contract, as the Notre Dame product signed a four-year, $53 million rookie deal. The $53 million marked the most guaranteed money for a running back in NFL history, surpassing Saquon Barkley's $31.8 million guaranteed from his rookie contract when he was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2018 draft.

Photo Credit: Sharpie

Making league history before even taking the field for a game might define some players, but Love is modest about the entire situation.

"It's good, but I honestly try not to think about it like that," he said. "I want to keep the main thing the main thing. I don't want to get a big head. Obviously, I got paid, but the only reason I got paid that type of money is because I was the third pick in the draft. Anybody's going to get paid if you're the third pick in the draft, no matter if you're a running back. 

"… I try to think of it as I've worked my whole life to get here and now I'm blessed to be able to play at this level. … I'm ready to play football. The money is the money. But it is great to hear I made history and it will help me set my family up."

Sharpie was there for that history.

The company partnered with Love and made him its 2026 Rookie of the Year. As part of that partnership, he signed his rookie contract with a Sharpie S-Gel pen that uses no smear, no smudge and no bleed technology for such an important moment.

"Sharpie has been great, he said. "I've been using Sharpie my whole life without even knowing one day I'd get to collaborate with them. This partnership was a no-brainer. They've been a part of my whole life.

"I signed my rookie contract with the Sharpie S-Gel Pen. You want to have that type of experience and memory with an organization that resonates with you. Sharpie is that for me. I've been using them my entire life. It's been really fun working with them."

The partnership went beyond the contract, as Sharpie involved Love's Jeremonstar comic book with a special edition and a custom draft suit that was lined with hand-drawn artwork.

Love is a lifelong anime and comic fan who partnered with his father and a team for the comic book, and he appreciated Sharpie for recognizing his passion for that world and bringing a personal touch to their collaboration.

"It means the world for an organization I'm working with to buy into me like that," he said. "At the end of the day, they didn't have to. But they chose to do that because they wanted to be more than just business partners. It's about building connections and meeting people and making those connections that will last. I feel like Sharpie wants to do that with each person they partner with. It's been special."

Love was surely on Sharpie's radar and everyone else's long before the Cardinals selected him with the No. 3 overall pick of the 2026 NFL draft.

After all, he was a dominant playmaker at Notre Dame who helped lead the team to the College Football Playoff national championship game in 2024 by running for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns with two of those scores coming in CFP wins over Indiana and Penn State.

That put him under an even brighter spotlight heading into the 2025 campaign, and he responded with 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground to go with 27 catches for 280 yards and three scores.

Love was an All-American and Heisman finalist that final season and also further cemented his place as a Notre Dame legend by running for 228 yards and a score in the rivalry win over USC.

Still, he will remember his collegiate career for far more than just the accomplishments on the field.

"The memories I made with the guys there will always stay with me," Love said. "Not necessarily the accolades. That's what I'll cherish the most when I look back whenever I'm done playing. The relationships and the moments I had with those people. Even now, that's really all I care about. I just want to be with those people again. It's not even necessarily going back to Notre Dame, it's about being with that group of people. I miss those guys."

Thriving with those teammates and coaches put him in position to be the clear-cut top running back heading into the draft.

In fact, he was B/R's NFL Scouting Department's No. 2 overall player on its final big board of prospects behind only Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, and the only question was which team would be willing to take a running back in the top 10.

The Cardinals were, and they earned an "A" grade for the selection from B/R's NFL Scouting Department, which suggested "Love is closer to Saquon Barkley and Bijan Robinson than other top-10 running backs over the last decade."

It turns out, the NFC West team kept its cards close to the vest leading up to the draft.

"I expected to go at least top five. I didn't really know I was maybe going to the Cardinals until about a week before," Love said. "They didn't really hit me up for the whole draft experience. But for them to hit me up at the end, I was kind of like, 'I think I know who I might be going to.' By the draft I kind of knew and embraced it."

And now it is time for Cardinals fans to embrace him.