Why Jeremiyah Love is a Perfect fit for the Commanders at #7

The Washington Commanders have a number of options they can turn to with the seventh overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, but smoke has remained steady around the team's interest in former Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, who could step into a feature role alongside four pieces to round out the depth.

In today's NFL, drafting a running back in the top ten remains a polarizing move. But the Washington Commanders aren't in a position to be conventional — they're in a position to be smart and take the best player available. After a brutal 2025 season that saw Jayden Daniels miss ten games with a knee sprain, hamstring strain, and dislocated elbow, the front office has one overriding mission heading into the 2026 NFL Draft: take the load off their franchise quarterback. That answer may well be standing in South Bend, Indiana.

Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love has the title of top running back in this class locked down, and ESPN's Field Yates has already projected Washington to select him with the sixth overall pick. The Commanders hold the No. 7 pick — close enough that this is a very real possibility. Love isn't just the best back in the draft. He may be the most quarterback-friendly player in the entire class for a team that desperately needs to reduce what it asks of Daniels.

The production Love put together over two seasons at Notre Dame is borderline historic. In 2024, he broke out with 1,125 rushing yards, a 6.9-yard average, and 17 touchdowns, adding 28 receptions and two receiving scores across 16 games. He followed that with an even more dominant 2025 campaign: 1,372 yards (fourth-best in FBS) and 18 touchdowns in just 12 games, tacking on 27 receptions and three more scores.

Over his final two seasons at Notre Dame, Love led all of FBS with 35 rushing scores and 40 total touchdowns from scrimmage. His yards-per-game average also saw a big improvement — jumping from 70.3 in 2024 to 114.3 in 2025 — a leap that signals a player who hadn't even scratched his ceiling yet. He became just the sixth player in FBS history to post multiple seasons averaging over 6.5 yards per carry while amassing at least 15 rushing touchdowns. For context, that puts him in historically elite company at the collegiate level.

At 6-foot, 214 pounds with a 4.37 forty, Love checks every physical box NFL teams are looking for in a modern bellcow back. He's big enough to handle a full workload, fast enough to take any carry to the house, and versatile enough to line up anywhere on the field. He enters the draft as a potential top-five pick after totaling 2,497 yards and 40 touchdowns over his final two college seasons, finishing as the Heisman Trophy runner-up in December.

The comp conversation around Love is an interesting one. His floor projection draws comparisons to Reggie Bush — a dynamic, field-flipping weapon who projects to play at a high level for a decade. But the ceiling conversation is far more exciting. The blend of sprinter speed, receiving polish, and goal-line dominance draws natural comparisons to Bijan Robinson — the last running back taken in the top ten — and even flashes of a young Saquon Barkley in terms of explosiveness and three-down utility.

Love profiles as a back who never has to leave the field, with strong hand-eye coordination that allows him to instantly convert from receiver back to runner — exactly the kind of chess piece modern offenses covet at the position. For a team like Washington that is rebuilding its offensive identity under a new coordinator, drafting Love isn't just about filling a need. It's about building around a generational talent before someone else does.

The numbers tell you Love is special and the film tells you why. He is a dynamic, explosive back who combines home-run top-end speed with route-running and pass-catching ability. 

His athleticism traces back to his roots as a track star. Love clocked a 10.76-second 100-meter dash at the prep level — sprinter speed that shows up every time he hits the second level. His agility via jukes and a patented spin move left defenders grasping at air all year long. The signature moment that defined his college career — a CFP-record 98-yard touchdown against Indiana — wasn't a broken coverage or a lucky bounce. It was elite burst, vision, and acceleration that only a handful of backs in any given draft class can replicate. 

One area of growth worth watching: Love is not the most powerful runner between the tackles, meaning he'll thrive most when given space. Fortunately for him, Washington's new offense is built to create exactly that.

This is where the Love-to-Washington argument becomes impossible to ignore. New offensive coordinator David Blough is transitioning the Commanders toward a more run-heavy, under-center attack — an aggressive, balanced approach designed to create explosive plays and reduce the pressure on Daniels to carry the offense single-handedly. 

Analysts expect Blough's scheme to resemble what Ben Johnson ran in Detroit — more plays under center, heavy pre-snap motion, horizontal routes to attack the intermediate area, and deep shots created off of play-action. An outside zone-heavy running game with a speed back capable of hitting the edge? That's Jeremiyah Love's entire portfolio. For a running back, Love has very strong hand-eye coordination that allows him to quickly convert back into a runner after catching the ball — an overwhelming skill set in the open field when a concept finds space for him. 

Washington recently signed two veteran backs, Rachaad White and Jerome Ford, on one-year deals. Jacory Croskey-Merritt seems to be the lead back as of now, who led the team with 805 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns in 2025. That's a committee of capable but somewhat uninspiring options. Love wouldn't just upgrade the position — he'd transform it, giving Blough a true piece to anchor the run game, take pressure off Daniels' legs in the RPO game, and serve as a legitimate receiving threat out of the backfield.

In Washington's new offense, Jeremiyah Love isn't just a fit. He's the missing piece.