Made 4️⃣ this.#GoIrish☘️ | #NFLDraft | #BirdGang pic.twitter.com/jVY8eVggM1
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) April 24, 2026
Jeremiyah Love was selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals with the third overall selection.
Love becomes the 72nd first round pick in Notre Dame history and the second top five pick for the Irish in the last five years (OT Joe Alt was selected fifth overall in 2024).
YUUUUUPP
*number subject to change pic.twitter.com/lBzP2tN84y
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) April 24, 2026
Love is the highest drafted Notre Dame running back ever and is the highest draft pick from Notre Dame since Rick Mirer was selected second by the Seattle Seahawks in 1993.
Jeremiah Love becomes the first running back drafted in the top five of the NFL Draft since 2018. He is the third running back selected in the top three in the last 20 years.
Jeremonstar is headed to the desert 🫶 @JeremiyahLove
NFL Draft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/dOLz55i2ZB— NFL (@NFL) April 24, 2026
Love is the first Notre Dame player to be selected to the Cardinals since Troy Niklas in 2014.
Love’s remarkable 2025 season helped him become one of the most decorated players in Notre Dame history. His accolades include:
2025 Heisman Finalist
2025 Doak Walker Award Winner
2025 Unanimous All-American
2025 Consensus All-American
2025 Walter Camp Player of the Year Finalist
2025 Maxwell Award Finalist
2025 Disney Spirit Award Recipient
2025 Associated Press All-American – First Team
2025 FWAA All-American – First Team
2025 Sporting News All-American – First Team
2025 Walter Camp All-American – First Team
2025 AFCA All-American – First Team
2025 The Athletic All-American – First Team
2025 On3 All-American – First Team
2025 PFF All-American
2025 Pony Express Award Finalist
Love’s 40 touchdowns from scrimmage over the last two seasons are seven more than any other running back in this draft class. He ended his Irish career with 2,882 rushing yards while sharing the backfield with Jadarian Price and amassed 3,476 total yards and 42 total touchdowns in his career.
Love in the Notre Dame Record Book
Tied for first rushing touchdowns in season (18)
Tied for fourth 20-yard + rushes in a career (25)
Fourth total rushing yards in a season (1,372)
Fifth in rush yards per attempt (6.7 ypc)
Fifth 100-yard rushing games (11)
Seventh in career rushing yards (2,882)
In his junior season (2025), he started in all 12 games at running back. Love broke the program record for total touchdowns in a season with 21. He tied the program record for rushing touchdowns with 18. He led the team with 1,372 rushing yards on 199 carries averaging 6.9 yards per carry. A dual threat in the back field, he finished fourth on the team with 27 receptions. The St. Louis native tallied 280 receiving yards and 1652 yards from scrimmage.
In an instantly iconic moment in South Bend in 2025, he rushed for 228 yards against Southern Cal, the most rushing yards by a Notre Dame player at Notre Dame Stadium. In what ended up being his last appearance in Notre Dame Stadium against Syracuse he rushed for 171 yards on just eight carries (21.4 ypc) and had a career-high three rushing touchdowns.
In the first-ever College Football Playoff First Round game to be played on a college campus (in 2024), Love set a CFP record with a 98-yard TD and scored the first touchdown of the game.
Love became the first player in program history to collect two 90-yard rushing touchdowns in a career with a 98-yard effort against Indiana in the College Football Playoff in 2024 and a 94-yard score at Boston College in 2025.