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Jeremiyah Love #4 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts against the Texas A&M Aggies.
There was a time, not long after the end of the NFL regular season, when the Washington Commanders seemed to have a realistic chance at landing vaunted Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love with the No. 7 overall pick in the 1st round.
That time may have finally passed, with Love’s draft stock continuing to rise heading into the start of the draft on Thursday.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes that the chances of Love ending up in a backfield with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels may have officially gone out the window in recent days.
“I no longer think (Love) slides down that far,” Schefter said. “That would be his floor, at 7, but he’s not getting past 7 … I think right now he’s looking at 3 or 4, frankly. So the Commanders have some holes, and they don’t have a 2nd round pick … so they’ve got to make the early picks count. A lot of pressure on that franchise after a down year.”
Early Optimism Over Landing Jeremiyah Love
The Commanders’ chances of drafting Love, 6-foot and 212 pounds, went down considerably after his bravura performance at the NFL scouting combine, where he ran the 40-yard dash in a blazing 4.36 seconds.
“Jeremiyah Love would be the best running back in Washington since John Riggins,” First Round Mock’s Daniel Kelly wrote. ” … Love brings another dimension to any NFL team’s offense.”
Even with pressing defensive needs, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn seemed like he was leaning toward taking a running back.
“How does somebody impact a team in a great way?” Quinn said to ESPN’s Rich Eisen. “And sometimes that’s through running back. And we’ve seen the players over the last four or five years who have done that.”
Jeremiyah Love Compared to Star RB Jahmyr Gibbs
There don’t get much better comparisons for a running back than what Love drew from NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein in his pre-draft evaluation, comparing him to Detroit Lions superstar running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
“Three-phase running back capable of stressing defenses with big-play speed and untapped pass-catching value,” Zierlein wrote. ” … Love runs with a fierce tempo and processes the front with adequate eyes to find entry points and burst through them. Outstanding speed erases pursuit angles to the corner and helps him pull away from tacklers once he opens his gait. He’s live-legged with violent cuts in segmented bursts that can elude tacklers but slow his momentum. He’s a talented route runner and pass catcher who can work from the slot and mismatch linebackers. Love is a three-down, scheme-independent player who would benefit from a complementary back to preserve his big-play ability … workhorse mentality.”
Love put up big numbers in his final 2 seasons at Notre Dame, rushing for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns to go with 27 receptions, 280 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2025 in 12 games on the way to being named a unanimous All-American, Doak Walker Award winner and Heisman Trophy finalist.
In just 3 seasons at Notre Dame, Love scored 42 total touchdowns.
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame
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