NFL
Cardinals Eye Jeremiyah Love as Surprise No.3 Pick in NFL Draft Twist
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The Arizona Cardinals have a roster that could be addressed at basically any position group, and with a rookie head coach on board getting a handle on tendencies and tells for this draft can be difficult.
SportsBoom continue to expect them to lean into grabbing an offensive lineman with the third-overall selection, given the league wide expectation that 2026 is a tank season for them to be in position to grab a quarterback of the future at the top of the 2027 draft.
They certainly have a serious need building up their line of scrimmage before bleeding in a new young quarterback, but several executives told SportsBoom they wouldn’t be shocked whatsoever if the Cardinals ended up going with a different position on offense with that selection.
What's Too High To Draft A RB?
“I think they take (Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah) Love with that pick,” one GM told SportsBoom.us.
“Just a hunch. But it’s pretty safe. With a first-time head coach, they usually go on his side of the ball. For the fans, it’s more exciting than an offensive lineman.”
Well, Arizona would certainly sell more jerseys for one of the more recognizable names of a skill player in this draft over an offensive lineman who doesn’t bring the same traditionally-quantifiable statistics with him from college.
Owners tend to notice such things and this franchise has been an after thought through most of the Bidwell family’s tenure at the helm.
The third pick is where Love’s market probably starts to form, and it’s hard to go through scenarios with evaluators that have Love lasting beyond Washington and the seventh-overall pick.
It’s fair to say he remains perhaps the biggest wild card of the players who are considered locks for the top 10.
Love is currently +500 to be drafted third overall and -135 to go fourth. We prefer the value and the match to the Cardinals more than we do the Titans, at fourth overall.
La Canfora has covered over 20 Super Bowls and League Meetings and NFL drafts, building a wide network of sources throughout all aspects of the game. He was an award winning print journalist as well, working at The Detroit Free Press and The Baltimore Sun prior to his first stint at The Washington Post. He has covered sporting events around the world, including two Winter Olympics and all of the 2006 World Cup. He attended his first NFL game in 1978, and would soon kindle what has become a lifelong love and appreciation of the sport. La Canfora is also a professional handicapper, specializing in the NFL, creating a daily sports wagering game show - "Wanna Bet?" He also hosts nationally broadcast NFL radio shows in the US, as well as a daily sports radio show in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.