New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh is sitting somewhere right now, doing everything in his power not to rip his hair out. Why? Because he heard what the Arizona Cardinals reportedly have planned for superstar running back Jeremiyah Love.
It’s not every day an NFL franchise finds a way to overcomplicate a top-three draft pick before training camp even kicks off. But when it happens, leave it to the Arizona Cardinals to prove exactly why they are consistently one of the worst-run organizations in professional football.
Arizona invested the third overall pick in the 2026 Draft to secure Love, who enters the league as the most highly touted running back prospect since Saquon Barkley. It's a fitting comparison, as Love and Barkley are the only two backs to be selected in the top three in recent memory. But For a running back taken that high, the expectation is pretty simple: give them the ball... a lot.
However, early offseason theories suggest the Cardinals might take a more interesting approach.
Cardinals risk overthinking Jeremiyah Love before camp even starts
On a recent episode of Locked on Arizona Cardinals, they debated how the team should use their star rookie, suggesting the best way to use him is to... not use him -- in the traditional sense that is:
"It's not just how you use Jeremiyah Love in the pass game and in the run game, It's how you use him in the decoy game because everybody knows that all eyes are going to be on him."
That’s a quick way to take the ball out of your best player’s hands. Not Harbaugh. He'd feed the kid relentlessly.
While the concept of playing decoy makes sense on paper, doing it this early to a top-three pick raises a major red flag.
Designing an offense where a player like that is used mainly as a distraction is how you end up limiting what he actually does best. Relying on a "decoy game" asks quarterback Jacoby Brissett to do more than he's likely capable of. The 33-year-old is the starting QB out of necessity -- he'd be a backup on about 30 other teams.
To truly unlock Love, the Cardinals need to put the ball directly in his hands. Galaxy-braining around him as a decoy is how you end up missing the whole point of drafting him.
The G-Men had a strong interest in drafting Love at five, viewing the Notre Dame standout as the ideal explosive piece to anchor Harbaugh's new-look, run-heavy offensive identity. But he was off the board when they were on the clock, and they took Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese instead.
If the plan is for Arizona to use Love as a distraction, you can bet Harby's going to be losing his mind. He would've had the 6-foot, 212-pound back getting 30-plus touches a game. If that’s really their plan, you can see why Harbs would lose his mind. This is the kind of player you build around, not work around. That’s the difference.
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