Notre Dame's electrifying trio, including top running back Jeremiyah Love, dominate NFL draft rankings, showcasing pro-ready talent for the upcoming selection.
On Thursday, the 2026 NFL Draft will kick off with a host of players hoping to hear their name called throughout the seven rounds of the ensuing draft. A trio of Notre Dame players are day-one to day-two hopefuls and ESPN's Jeff Legwold has running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price along with wide receiver Malachi Fields ranked inside of his Top 100 draft prospects ahead of Thursday night's draft. Those three are the highest-rated draft prospects coming out of South Bend this year and it's not difficult to see why.
No. 2 - Running Back Jeremiyah Love
"It is one metric among many, but Love ran the same 40 time at the combine as Lions Pro Bowler Jahmyr Gibbs in 2023, and Love was 13 pounds heavier," Legwold explained. "His run skills, vision and explosiveness -- eight plays of 20 yards or more, and he forced more than 50 missed tackles last season -- are enough to put him here. But Love's route-running/receiving skills will force plenty of evaluators to consider taking a running back this high on the board."
Love has remained a Top 10 NFL draft pick since the first mock drafts started to be released. He's the consensus No. 1 overall running back in the 2026 draft class and his performance at the NFL Combine down in Indianapolis and his career long production in South Bend back that up. He finished his collegiate career as one of the most prolific backs in Notre Dame history bringing home the first ever Doak Walker Award and finished as a Heisman Finalist.
The St. Louis native brings franchise-level talent to the running back room, something that's several teams who have Top 10 draft picks would be looking to add. They'd be bringing in a running back that totaled 2,882 rushing yards, 594 receiving yards and 42 total touchdowns in three years with the Fighting Irish and that was with sharing a backfield in 2024 and 2025 with very, very productive players.
No. 33 - Running Back Jadarian Price
"Jeremiyah Love might have provided some public camouflage for Price's work," Legwold explained. "Notre Dame's No. 2 running back had 24 runs of at least 10 yards last season in 113 carries (21.2% of his rushes) and scored a rushing touchdown on 9.7% of his carries, ending with 11 in all. Price fumbled three times in '25 but has elite vision with fluid movements."
Price has consistently been considered the second best running back in the 2026 draft class behind Love. Brugler's seven-round mock draft reflects that and he has the Texas native returning to his home state in the second round to be a Texan. The 5-11, 203-pound running back brings a different element to the backfield that they've lacked consistently over the last five years. He's a dual threat back that can make plays in the pass game and between the tackles. Price is also an electric return man.
On top of his 1,692 career rushing yards and 21 career rushing touchdowns, Price also recorded 162 career receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns and three career kickoffs for touchdowns. He's been projected to go anywhere from the final pick in the first round to the Seattle Seahawks to the middle of the second round to the Houston Texans. Price is the No. 2 running back in this draft class. Now, it's just a question of when he'll be taken and how many teams will risk passing on him.
No. 59 - Wide Receiver Malachi Fields
"Quarterbacks will gravitate to Fields in tight moments and spaces because he consistently wins in contested-catch situations and is comfortable making plays on the boundary," Legwold said about Notre Dame's boundary. "He showed his physicality against some of the draft's best defensive back prospects at the Senior Bowl. Thirty-three of his 64 targets last season were contested targets in which a defender was within an arm's reach upon ball arrival."
Fields was a very productive player throughout his college career both with Virginia and with Notre Dame. The 6-4, 223-pound boundary receiver totaled 2,479 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns during his five-year collegiate career and looks to replicate that production at the next level.
The Virginia native didn't have the season many, myself included, thought he would when he arrived in South Bend, but when you have two potential first-round draft picks at running back, it becomes understandable. Still, his playmaking ability was on full display as was his contested catch ability and reliability in big games against Miami on the road, Texas A&M at home and Pitt on the road.
All three of these former Fighting Irish standouts have the chance to be taken within the first two rounds. Love is a lock in the first round and I'd go as far to say that he's a lock within the Top 10 picks of the first round. Price and Fields will be day-two NFL Draft picks, the question is when and where they will go. Regardless, whichever franchises elects to draft these three will be getting athletic playmakers who can contribute the minute they enter the league.
-------
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!