Jeremiyah Love's Cardinals Usage Rate Discussed by NFL Insider, Updated Fantasy Football Outlook

Even though the Arizona Cardinals made Jeremiyah Love the highest-drafted running back since 2018, they don't intend to overwhelm him with touches in his rookie season.

Per Albert Breer of SI.com, the Cardinals' plan for the regular season is to avoid overloading Love by finding the "right rotation" with him, James Conner and Tyler Allgeier.

Arizona used the No. 3 pick in the 2026 draft on Love, making him the first running back selected in the top five since Barkley went No. 2 overall eight years ago.

Fantasy managers are almost as eager to add Love as the Cardinals were. His average draft position in PPR leagues is No. 21 overall, sandwiched between Derrick Henry and Brock Bowers.

That's lofty company to keep in fantasy because Henry finished as the RB8 last season. Bowers' 2025 was down from his historic rookie campaign due to a knee injury that limited him to 12 games, but he still averaged the second-most fantasy points per game among tight ends.

It will also be interesting to see how the Cardinals offense operates under first-year head coach Mike LaFleur. He has an incredible background after previously working under Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers and Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams.

Even in a potential timeshare role with Conner and Allgeier, Love seems almost certain to get the bulk of the touches. He also has a strong pass-catching resume with 55 receptions over the past two seasons at Notre Dame.

The Cardinals figure to be in a lot of high-scoring games this season, creating plenty of opportunities for all of the skill-position players on the roster to get a lot of run.

If Love finishes the season closer to 250 touches instead of 300, it will knock his overall fantasy value down. But the per-game impact still figures to be very high given his pedigree and the Cardinals needing to score a lot of points to win games.