It can be challenging to find love, which the Arizona Cardinals learned firsthand on Night 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
“If you want me to tell you the honest-to-god truth, we had the wrong phone number. The phone number that we were given was the wrong one. That was a little bit of the delay, so we got that straightened out. We called [Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back] Jeremiyah [Love}, and we got a hold of him,” Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort said about why the Cardinals took so long to select Love with the No. 3 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft in a press conference on Thursday night, according to Arizona Sports.
“That’s what the delay was. There was no delay. Technical difficulties.”
As for rumors that the Cardinals wanted to trade down from pick No. 3, Ossenfort said they had “very minimal conversations” with teams about the possibility, with no offer coming “anywhere close” to what they would’ve been looking for in such a move.
Arizona selecting Love marked the highest selection of a running back in the NFL draft since the New York Giants took Saquon Barkley with the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Last season (2025), Love rushed for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns on 6.9 yards per carry, helping him earn All-American honors and finish third in 2025 Heisman Trophy voting. Over his last two seasons at Notre Dame, Love rushed for 1,248.5 yards and 17.5 touchdowns per season on 6.9 yards per carry, while also averaging 258.5 receiving yards per year.
Love joins a potentially stout Cardinals’ running back room that includes veteran and two-time Pro Bowler James Conner and free-agent signee Tyler Allgeier, among others. With that said, Arizona’s offense is managing starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett being away from the team, as he seeks a new contract.
As for the rest of the 2026 draft, the Cardinals have picks No. 34, 65, 104, 143, 183 and 217.
