{"id":266539,"date":"2026-02-21T16:51:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=266539"},"modified":"2026-02-21T16:51:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:51:56","slug":"jets-predicted-to-draft-star-running-back-jeremiyah-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/02\/21\/jets-predicted-to-draft-star-running-back-jeremiyah-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets Predicted to Draft Star Running Back Jeremiyah Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeremiyah Love is expected to be the first running back taken in the 2026 NFL Draft. It’ll be interesting to see where he\u2019ll end up. Could the New York Jets be his next team?<\/p>\n

Mario Puig<\/a> of at RotoWire released a two-round mock draft. He has the Jets taking Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese<\/a> second overall. Then later on with the 16th pick (from the Sauce Gardner trade<\/a> with the Indianapolis Colts<\/a>), he has the Jets drafting Love:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c16. New York Jets (from IND) – Jeremiyah Love, <\/strong>RB, Notre Dame (6-0, 214)<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Love could easily go earlier than this and is generally projected to, but he’d be an easy enough pick for the Jets if he slipped this far.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether Love falls all the way to No. 16. But if that’s the case, should the Jets draft the Notre Dame star?<\/p>\n

Jets Predicted to Draft Star Running Back Jeremiyah Love<\/h2>\n

Looking Back at His Career<\/h3>\n
\"Saints
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (4) makes a heart sign after scoring a touchdown in the first half of a NCAA football game against Syracuse at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in South Bend.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jeremiyah Love attended Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis. During his senior year, he rushed for 1,291 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also caught 13 passes for 370 yards and five touchdowns.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Love received college offers from schools like Michigan, Oregon, and Texas A&M. Yet, he committed to Notre Dame. During his first collegiate season, he recorded\u00a0<\/sup>385 rushing yards, 77 receiving yards, and two touchdowns.\u00a0<\/sup><\/p>\n

Love became a starter in 2024, replacing Audric Estime<\/a>, who went to the NFL. He wound up rushing for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns while catching 28 passes for 237 yards and two scores. Love helped Notre Dame reach the National Championship Game, where they lost to Ohio State.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Love and the Fighting Irish finished the season with a 10-2 record. Love rushed for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also hauled in 27 receptions for 280 yards and three touchdowns. In addition, he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza<\/a> ultimately won the award.<\/span><\/p>\n

Does drafting Love Make Sense for the Jets?<\/h3>\n

The Jets are coming off another miserable season. In 2025, they posted a 3-14 record<\/a> and missed the playoffs for the 15th consecutive year. They hold the longest active playoff drought in the NFL and all major North American professional sports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Needless to say, the Jets need to add a lot of talent. Jeremiyah Love could help. He\u2019s expected to be a top-10 pick in this year\u2019s draft. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible that he slips to the 16th pick. If that happens, the Jets should certainly draft Love if they don\u2019t re-sign fellow running back Breece Hall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hall is set to hit the open market this offseason, barring an extension or franchise tag by the Jets. It’s possible that he winds up going to another team. Love could be a great replacement for Hall. He possesses impressive vision and patience behind his blockers. Plus, he’s a dangerous <\/span>receiving weapon. That’s the kind of guy the Jets need to add this offseason.<\/p>\n

Main Image: MICHAEL CLUBB\/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE \/ USATODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A mock draft has the New York Jets using their second pick of the first round to select Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4890,"featured_media":259423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,6],"tags":[33842,9064,33664,7330],"class_list":["post-266539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-jets","tag-arvell-reese","tag-breece-hall","tag-jeremiyah-love","tag-new-york-jets-news"],"modified_by":"Mike Roberts","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266539"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266572,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266539\/revisions\/266572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}