Jeremiyah led the nation in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and overall touchdowns each of the past two seasons at Notre Dame. In 2025, he won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back and was a Heisman Trophy semifinalist.
The Cardinals used the No. 3 overall pick on Love, and he likely will get plenty of chances to do what he did the past two seasons for the Fighting Irish.
Love, though, said he has no personal goals for his rookie season.
“I’ve learned throughout my time just playing football, the personal goals aren’t going to get you really where you want to get to. It’s all about the team at the end of the day,” Love said Monday, via NFL.com. “As long as you do your part on the team, usually you’ll get the personal accolades and the personal goals that you have in your mind. So, in my mind, my goal for myself is to jell really well with this team and do whatever coach [Mike] LaFleur wants me to do, and do it to the best of my ability.”
Love is the favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year ahead of Fernando Mendoza and Carnell Tate, but the 2025 All-American isn’t even thinking about the award.
“That’s kind of how I’ve always been,” Love said. “Never really been the type to set . . . well, I’ve always been the type to set goals for myself, but they’ve always been connected to the team in some type of way. Like last year, I wanted to win the Doak Walker Award in college, wanted to win the Heisman, but those things weren’t going to happen unless I did what I had to do for my team and play my role for the team. Both of them go hand in hand, so I kind of try to make everything team-oriented.
“At the end of the day, it’s a team sport. You can’t do anything by yourself, especially as a running back. Got to have a good O-line, got to have a quarterback that can read defenses and see a lot of things, and you’ve got to have receivers that can take the top off to lighten up the box, as well. Everything goes hand in hand, so I try not to make things personal and make it all team-oriented. Because if the team is good, a lot of times you’re going to do good as well.”
As good as Love was last season, Notre Dame did not make the College Football Playoff. In 2024, Love played through a knee injury in the National Championship loss to Ohio State but had only six touches for 8 yards.
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