Four Notre Dame stars join Daniel Jeremiah's Top 150 NFL Draft prospects, with Love and Price headlining the talented Fighting Irish contingent.
The 2026 NFL Draft kicks off this Thursday night and there's a handful of former Notre Dame standouts who hope to hear their name called throughout the seven rounds. There's four Notre Dame players in particular that have the highest odds of getting taken. Running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price along with wide receiver Malachi Fields and Eli Raridon have the best odds to be taken in the 2026 draft and analyst Daniel Jeremiah believes them to be amongst the Top 150 prospects in this year's draft.
No. 2 - Running Back Jeremiyah Love
"Love is a dynamic weapon as a runner and receiver," Jeremiah explained. "On inside runs, he runs high/narrow, but he explodes to and through the hole. He will drop a level lower on contact and has the lower-leg drive to bounce off defenders. He doesn’t always let things develop because he can get skinny through narrow passages. He has elite speed on outside runs to capture the corner and take it the distance.
"He has a rare ability to make defenders miss without gearing down," Jeremiah continued. "His spin move is electric. In the passing game, he can run routes like a wideout. He’s smooth, polished and natural. He plucks the ball effortlessly. In pass protection, he is both aware and willing, but he’s best utilized out in the route. Overall, Love is a home run hitter and will immediately expand the playbook for his drafting team."
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.
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.
No. 34 - Running Back Jadarian Price
"Price is a compact running back with terrific vision and balance. He split carries with Jeremiyah Love in Notre Dame’s offense. Price is a patient runner, letting blocks develop before bursting through the line of scrimmage. He runs low to the ground and has supreme contact balance. He is adept at stepping through low tackles and can make defenders miss in space.
"Price has reliable hands, but Love handled the bulk of the pass-catching duties out of the backfield," Jeremiah continued. "In pass protection, Price is quick to identify blitzers and closes the distance before launching into the defender. He has suffered fumble issues (three inside the opposition’s 10-yard line in 2025). He provides home run ability as a kickoff returner, taking two for touchdowns in 2025. Overall, Price is overshadowed by his former teammate (Love), but the Notre Dame product has NFL-starter traits."
Price has consistently been considered the second best running back in the 2026 draft class behind Love. 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. 60 - Wide Receiver Malachi Fields
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.
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. His on-field performance makes him a clear-cut Top 150 player in this upcoming draft.
No. 125 - Tight End Eli Raridon
Raridon had a tumultuous career in South Bend but overcame a lot of the injury history and stacked together two healthy seasons in back to back years in 2024 and 2025. The 6-7, 252-pound tight end finished his collegiate career with 48 catches, 623 yards, averaged 13.0 yards per catch and hauled in three touchdowns.
His abilities as a pass catcher and run blocker fit into what GM's and head coaches look for at the next level. For Raridon, it's about staying healthy and playing at a more consistently level, but physically, he's one of the more gifted tight ends in the class making him a part of Jeremiah's Top 150 prospects.
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