Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 SUMMER 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE I f Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur is being honest, he hoped the trade call never came. It was well-publicized before the draft that the Cardinals, with many needs throughout the roster and a first- year head coach who could afford to be patient, wanted to trade down for extra picks. But deep down, LaFleur hoped that didn't happen. He knew the player he hoped to land April 23: Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. The Cardinals selected Love with the No. 3 overall pick, making him the high- est-drafted Notre Dame football player since quarterback Rick Mirer went No. 2 overall in 1993. LaFleur, whose tenure is now tied to Love's success, regrets nothing. "I was hoping nobody called," LaFleur said on The Rich Eisen Show. "I really didn't care what the offer was, because of how I feel about the guy we got." In selecting Love, Arizona bucked conventional wisdom about positional value — particularly with a roster that's at least a year away from competing for the playoffs. When highly drafted run- ning backs have elevated their teams into contenders, such as the Detroit Li- ons' Jahmyr Gibbs, they've been the last piece their teams have needed to get serious about winning, not the first. The Cardinals knew this. They picked Love anyway because they were that convinced about the former Notre Dame superstar. "In the end, we felt we added the guy that could impact our team the most," Cardinals general manager Monti Os- senfort said. "Just really excited about the versatility that he brings to the offense." LaFleur explained that Love's impact comes from his ability to create explo- sive plays. He laid out that the two big- gest statistical factors that contribute to winning are turnovers and explosives. "It's actually closer than you'd think," LaFleur said. Love joins an offense that includes first-team All-Pro tight end Trey Mc- Bride, as well as 2024 fourth overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. Harrison dealt with injuries and underperformance in his sec- ond season, but the Cardinals hope a new coaching staff can unlock his potential. Adding Love to that equation, LaFleur believes, will eventually create one of the most dangerous offenses in the NFL. That projection relies on the Cardinals putting themselves in a position to draft a quarterback in what is projected to be a loaded 2027 class (journeyman Jacoby Brissett is the projected starter in 2026), but the vision is there. "When you bring in explosive play- makers at any position, you give your- self a better chance to have those ex- plosives," LaFleur said. "I don't gotta call the greatest play sometimes when you just get the ball to a guy like Trey McBride, he breaks three tackles and he turns it into an explosive. Same thing LOVE IS IN THE ARI Arizona-bound running back Jeremiyah Love headlines Notre Dame's six-man draft class Love became the Fighting Irish's highest-drafted player in 33 years (quarterback Rick Mirer went No. 2 overall in 1993), going No. 3 overall to the Arizona Cardinals. PHOTO COURTESY ARIZONA CARDINALS