But LaFleur wanted Love. That was his guy. Overall, the Cardinals had a good draft and are bringing in some much needed talent to this year\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love interacts with a Make-A-Wish kid on the red carpet for the 2026 NFL Draft Getty Images<\/p>\n Before any practice reps are taken or any nameplate sewn onto a jersey, ESPN has come out with its prediction for this year\u2019s \u201cNFL Rookie of the Year\u201d award. Two Arizona players dot the list.<\/p>\n LINK: ESPN ROOKIE OF THE YEAR PREDICTION FULL LIST<\/a><\/p>\n It is of no surprise that Love is listed at the top. He is ranked #2 behind Las Vegas Raiders QB Fernando Mendoza. Yes, the talented QB was taken first overall and is a huge need for Las Vegas. But what ESPN failed to expand upon is the fact that the Raiders also signed in free agency veteran QB Kirk Cousins who should become the starting quarterback in Week 1, and as long as he plays well, should continue in this capacity for a while. This would limit Mendoza\u2019s snaps for the year.<\/p>\n Love is ranked second on the list, which means he has a very good chance of taking home the honor at season\u2019s end. LaFleur will use an offense that will run quite a bit and use lots of tight end sets. During the offseason, Ossenfort gutted the offensive line and brought in several new faces who will transform this wretched group from a year ago, including the best guard prospect in free agency with Isaac Seumalo, a new right tackle in Elijah Wilkinson, and then he selected Chase Bisontis out of Texas A&M in this year\u2019s NFL draft.<\/p>\n Coupled with the league\u2019s best tight end and capable receivers, this will be a fun group to watch this year. Love just amplifies the offense\u2019s ability to move the ball and score more points going forward.<\/p>\n The author of the article, Ben Solak, said this about Love and his path to the top rookie award:<\/p>\n \u201cLove seems like an obvious favorite for Rookie of the Year, and I get it from a talent perspective. He is the earliest drafted running back since Barkley, who is the most recent running back winner. Barkley led the league in yards from scrimmage as a rookie, and while Love is unlikely to be that productive, he does have the receiving chops to be a dynamic three-down player.\u201c<\/p>\n First off, Love will have to win the starting position since the Cardinals not only have a crowded running back room<\/a>, but the entire group has plenty of talent and something Love doesn\u2019t have yet: experience at the next level. On most Cardinals depth charts, he is listed as the starter, and we will see how that plays out in training camp.<\/p>\n Still, Love is ultra-talented and with a newly built offensive line should be able to get his bulk of carries and have notable holes to run through.<\/p>\n But we\u2019ve seen more receivers than running backs win the award lately because of the changing dynamic at the position. The league doesn\u2019t hammer one back with carries the way it once did. Barkley had 352 touches in that 2018 season, working out to 22.0 per game. In the seven seasons since, only 10 backs have exceeded that number (minimum 14 games played), and they have earned that sort of usage. The only rookie to exceed 2018 Barkley was 2021 Najee Harris<\/a> with the Steelers<\/a> (22.4 touches per game). The next closest was 2020 James Robinson<\/a> with the Jaguars<\/a> (20.6 touches per game), then 2025 Jeanty (18.9).\u201c<\/p>\n Not that a running back needs 22 touches on average per game to win the rookie award. New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara only averaged 12.6 carries back in 2017 when he took home the hardware.<\/p>\n![\"Notre](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/gettyimages-2272842530.jpg\"\/)
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