The Arizona Cardinals made the most position-defying pick of the 2026 first round, taking Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love at No. 3 overall. For a decade, the analytics consensus has been that you do not spend premium capital on a back. Arizona just spent about as premium as it gets.
The logic is that Love is not a "running back" in the replaceable-committee sense — he is a true offensive centerpiece, a three-down weapon with the burst to flip field position on any touch and the receiving chops to function as a movable mismatch. When a prospect at a devalued position is genuinely elite, the value math inverts: the discount that usually argues against backs only applies when the player is fungible, and Love isn't.
The risk is obvious and doesn't need rehearsing — backs get hit, careers are short, and the opportunity cost at No. 3 (a left tackle, an edge, a corner who plays a decade) is steep. Arizona is wagering that Love's prime is worth more to their specific window than a longer career at a less explosive position would be.
It is also a statement about how the Cardinals see themselves: a team that believes it is closer to contention than a top-three pick suggests, and is willing to draft for impact-now rather than safest-asset. If Love is the engine of a top-ten offense as a rookie, the pick ages beautifully. If the offensive line around him doesn't hold up, it becomes the cautionary tale every analytics department will cite for the next decade.
Notre Dame, notably, had a second back come off the board in the first round when Jadarian Price went 32nd to Seattle — a reminder of how much skill talent the program pushed into this class.