The 2026 NFL Draft is the perfect storm for Jeremiyah Love to shoot up the board

Heading into the 2026 NFL Draft, we’re closing in on a decade of discourse regarding the value of the running back position. The NFL has rightfully recognized that the production of a running back can be largely circumstantial and heavily impacted by the scheme, offensive line, and a bevy of other factors. 

Those realizations have hit the position hard financially and pushed running backs down draft boards after years of Saquon Barkely wasting away on the Giants. Yet, for the occasional special talent, like Barkley was in the 2018 draft, or Ashton Jeanty last year, a team picking inside the top 10 will splurge on what is seen as a luxury item. 

Jeremiyah Love is the latest running back to get top 10 consideration, and while the tectonic forces in the NFL have long worked against running backs, the year’s draft class could be the perfect storm for Love to come off the board early in April. 

Dane Brugler early draft board is good news for Jeremiyah Love’s value

Since the season ended, the NFL draftnik community has been digging even more into the 2026 class, and on Monday, Dane Brugler put numbers to the growing feeling that there aren’t many quarterbacks or running backs to choose from this year, at least not early. 

Brugler has just six running backs and quarterbacks in his top 100 prospects. That’s an alarming decline considering that, since 2000, an average of 7.4 running backs have been selected in the top 100 picks. 

One of the primary arguments against selecting a running back early is that, if you build up your offensive ecosystem, you can find a running back later in the draft who can match the more talented player’s production. This year, that may not be the case. 

There’s a steep drop-off after Love, so teams that need a jolt of explosiveness in the backfield may feel extra pressure to add it early rather than risk missing out on it altogether. That could be a team like the Kansas City Chiefs, who hold the No. 9 overall pick and are in desperate need of an upgrade at running back, especially with Patrick Mahomes coming off an ACL injury. 

Then, there’s the jarring lack of QB talent in this draft. Beyond presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, Alabama QB Ty Simpson is the only other player in serious contention to be a first-round pick, and even then he’s likely to come off the board in the latter half of the round. 

In some years, quarterbacks can dominate the early part of the draft. In 2024, six QBs were taken in the first 12 picks. That doesn’t just have an impact on running backs, it pushes every other position down the board. Without that possibility this year, it looks like the perfect storm for Love to become a top 10 pick. If he does, he would be the third running back selected in the top 10 since that 2018 draft when Barkley went No. 2 overall, joining Bijan Robinson and Ashton Jeanty.