Jeremiyah Love NFL Draft profile: A home-run hitter with traits that justify a top-five pick

A closer look at Love's strengths, weaknesses and overall projection as an NFL prospect

Dave Richard

Apr 17, 2026

7:07 pm ET

•

8 min read

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Jeremiyah Love was born in University City, Missouri, about 20 miles northwest of St. Louis. He spent his whole life in the area, playing youth football at age 6 with his father, Jason, as his first coach. As a child, Love would swing from the casing above doorways and scale furniture in his house. Called "a little daredevil" by his father, it became clear that Love had a hard time sitting still and only found focus when his competitive nature came out. That showed up in everything from sports to pushup contests.

Love's first love was basketball, and he trained in middle school while also playing football and running track. He continued all three sports at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, winning the Missouri state championship in the 100-meter dash as a sophomore (10.76 seconds). But it was football he excelled at, leading the Cadets to back-to-back state championships in 2021 and 2022.

As a senior, he posted 27 total touchdowns and tallied more than 1,600 yards from scrimmage in 14 games, good enough to earn Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year and Missouri Class 6 Offensive Player of the Year, while also receiving an invite to play in the Under Armour All-America Game.

The 247Sports four-star prospect received offers from nearly every school, including Missouri as early as June 2021, but the recruitment by then-Notre Dame running backs coach Deland McCullough helped push Love to join the Fighting Irish.

247Sports recruiting profile

- High school: Christian Brothers College (St. Louis)

- Class: 2023

- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (No. 96 overall, No. 5 RB, No. 3 MO)

Jeremiyah Love NFL Draft profile

Jeremiyah Love

ND • RB • #4

CBS Sports prospect ranking: No. 7 overall (No. 1 RB)

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- Age as of Week 1: 21 years old

- Measurables: 6-foot-0, 212 pounds, 9⅛-inch hands, 32-inch arm length, 78⅝-inch wingspan

- Testing: 4.36-second 40-yard dash, 1.55-second 10-yard split

- Comparable body type: Nick Chubb

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NFL comparison: Clinton Portis

It's difficult to compare Love to another running back because he has impressive acceleration to go with difference-making speed. Those are rare traits, especially when combined with an abnormally long wingspan, toughness not every running back has (especially at Love's size), and plenty of potential to become a strong threat in the passing game.

Does he resemble Travis Etienne Jr.? Yes, but he's a bit bulkier and clearly stronger. Does he run wild like Jahmyr Gibbs? Sure, but he's not as polished a pass catcher as Gibbs was coming out of college. He could eventually reach that level, but the better comp for Love is Clinton Portis -- a smaller running back with blazing speed, underrated physicality and good hands.

The argument for (and against) selecting Jeremiyah Love as top-five pick in 2026 NFL Draft

Mike Renner

About

- Draft: Would be first RB taken in top five since 2018 (Saquon Barkley)

- Draft: Would be first Notre Dame QB/RB/WR/TE taken in top 10 since 1993 (Rick Mirer, Jerome Bettis)

- 2025: Unanimous All-American; Doak Walker Award winner (top RB in FBS)

- 2024-25: Led FBS in rushing TD (35) and scrimmage TD (40)

- 2024-25: Set Notre Dame records with 35 rushing TD and 3,014 scrimmage yards in two-year span

- 2025: Increased rushing from 70.3 YPG (2024) to 114.3

- Career: One of six FBS players with multiple seasons of 6.5+ YPC and 15+ rushing TD

College stats

Rushing

SeasonGPRush AttRush YdsYPCRush YPGRush TD202313713855.429.612024161631,1256.970.3172025121991,3726.9114.318Career414332,8826.770.336Receiving

SeasonGPRecRec YdsYPRRec TDRec YPG2023138779.615.9202416282378.5214.82025122728010.4323.3Career41635949.4614.5Strengths

- Thick torso with big quads and long, elongated arms (nearly 80-inch wingspan).

- Typically worked out of the shotgun in Notre Dame's offense, either next to or behind the quarterback. Had a handful of direct snaps in the wildcat formation. Occasionally motioned out of the backfield and lined up as a receiver, or lined up as a receiver out of the huddle.

- Held the ball nice and tight with the standard three points of contact. Had one fumble and zero turnovers in three years (433 carries).

- Patient ball carrier who didn't panic when a lane wasn't clearly available. In fact, Love only needed a sliver of space between linemen to plant and go. He seemed committed to following his blockers at all costs, rarely freelancing when a lane wasn't present. This would cause some dancing in the backfield when a lane wasn't obvious, but coaches would almost always prefer a running back who stays on his track over one who goes off script.

- Easily the most coordinated runnin