Image 1: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) hurdling a USC defender
Height: 6’0
Weight: 214
Position: RB
Year: Junior
Background
Image 2: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) diving for a touchdown during his final season with Christian Brothers College
Born on May 31, 2005, Jeremiyah Love was a four-star RB prospect coming out of Christian Brothers College in St. Louis, Missouri. An All-American and elite track athlete with several sub-11-second 100m times as a sophomore, Love was recruited heavily by top programs due to the home run ability he brings to the backfield. In a tight recruiting battle between Notre Dame, Alabama, Oregon, Texas A&M, and Michigan, Love ultimately committed to Notre Dame.
As a member of the Fighting Irish, Love saw immediate playing time as a true freshman as the primary backup for Notre Dame’s lead back Audric Estime. After Estime declared for the NFL draft, Love entered his sophomore season as Notre Dame’s top RB. While there was excitement because of Love’s flashes, Love shattered all expectations by becoming the offensive engine for Notre Dame’s national championship run. Though his play did slow down after a knee injury against USC, Love proved he truly is special. Entering 2025, Love continues to build on his great resume with the expectation of him being a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
Athletic Tools
With explosive acceleration and good long speed, Jeremiyah Love’s background as a track star is clear on tape. Whether he’s getting carries or catching passes, Love is a constant big-play threat. In the open field, Love is great at making defenders miss tackles with his lateral agility and elusive running style. Not only does Love’s athleticism make him a great runner, but it also makes him a mismatch for LBs when he’s running routes. While not heavily targeted, Love has taken a bigger receiving role this year, with him running a more complex route tree out of the backfield and even flexing into the slot in some packages to exploit his speed advantage.
Video 1: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) using his acceleration and long speed to generate an explosive play once he reaches the open field
Video 2: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) accelerates quickly into the open run lane and jukes to make the first defender miss his tackle
Video 3: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) uses a juke and spin move to escape the LB’s tackle and continues to go upfield
Video 4: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) flexes into the slot and runs a skinny post
With a slender, leggy build, Love’s body will raise questions about his ability to handle the NFL’s physicality. Love is capable of remaining upright when getting arm tackled and tripped, but he lacks the high-end ability to lower his shoulder for tough yards or bounce defenders who attempt to tackle him. Beyond not being a high-end tackle bleaker, Love is poor at using his strength to fight for tough yardage in red zone and short yardage situations. Though far from a weak runner, Love may slip down some teams’ boards who want RBs with more ability to play through contact.
Video 5: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) maintains his balance after being ankle swept to fall forward for positive yardage
Video 6: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) gets contacted behind the line of scrimmage and fails to break the tackle
Video 7: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) runs on an outside zone concept and is stopped after taking a big hit from the S
Video 8: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) gets stuffed at the line of scrimmage and fails to fight for extra yardage
Video 9: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) is stuffed on a goal-line carry and unable to break the plane for the touchdown
Technicals
As a runner, Love has great vision and patience when processing gaps. With Notre Dame’s outside and wide zone heavy run scheme, Love does a great job of hitting the correct holes while knowing when to utilize his cutback lane or bounce a run outside the OTs. Though he rarely lowers his shoulder or bounces defenders, Love is highly effective at creating yards as a ball carrier by using his elusiveness to make defenders miss their tackles in space. In the open field, Love uses his creativity, quickness, and vision to evade defenders with a collection of hurdles, spins, and jukes.
Video 10: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) hitting the hole at the aiming point for the wide zone run play
Video 11: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) reads the force defender and uses a jump cut to access his cutback lane, gaining positive yardage
Video 12: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) recognizes that the LB stops playing contain and quickly bounces the run outside for an explosive play
Video 13: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) uses his vision, quickness, and speed to make multiple defenders miss their tackles on his long touchdown run
Video 14: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) uses a spin move to avoid the tackle and continue upfield
With much of Love’s hype being built around his ability as a receiver, Love’s current state as a route runner is shockingly disappointing. Though he is a good athlete with soft hands who gets snaps in the slot, Love is inconsistent at selling his routes and cleanly breaking at the stem. While he gets away with his lack of refinement on simple routes out of the backfield, Love needs more development to reliably run option and angle routes. Beyond route running, Love needs a lot of work in his technique and strength as a pass blocker. Due to this, Love could see limited workload on third downs in favor of a player with greater consistency as a blocker.
Video 15: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) makes an impressive one hand catch on the wheel route for a long touchdown reception
Video 16: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) flexes out to the slot to run a post, tracking the ball in the air for the long reception before going out of bounds
Video 17: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) rounds the break on his option route, which allows the LB to anticipate the route and make the open field tackle
Video 18: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) runs a textbook Texas route and makes a catch over the middle of the field
Video 19: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) is late to recognize the looper on the stunt and commits a holding penalty that goes uncalled
Video 20: RB Jeremiyah Love (4) fails to block the EDGE, which forces QB CJ Carr (13) to throw the ball away and results in a turnover on downs
Draft Projection
Jeremiyah Love currently has a first-round grade, but he falls short of blue-chip grading. With questions over his power, pass blocking, and route running, Love has work to do before he can be a true three-down difference maker out of the backfield. Even though he is not the same caliber of prospect as other previously highly drafted RBs, Love’s vision, athleticism, and elusiveness should let him be a productive ball carrier whose immediate impact and potential make him worth the draft capital.
Athletic Testing
Will be updated after the NFL Combine/Notre Dame Pro Day
Pro Comparison
Image 3: RB Travis Etienne (1) making a Colts defender miss in space
Two slender-built RBs with high-end speed and questionable power, Jeremiyah Love reminds me a lot of Travis Etienne Jr. While Etienne has not become the receiving weapon people had him to be as a prospect, Etienne has been a productive, explosive rusher for Jacksonville who has had poor seasons due to play calling, health, and OL play. Though his injury history will likely reduce the size of his next contract, Etienne is a quality starter and the type of player I believe Love can be in the NFL.
Date Published: 10/31/2025
Date Last Updated: 10/31/2025