The Arizona Cardinals followed their heart when they spent the No. 3 overall pick on Jeremiyah Love.
He's planning on winning their affection all over again by dedicating himself to team excellence.
"I've learned throughout my time just playing football, the personal goals aren't going to get you really where you want to get to. It's all about the team at the end of the day," Love said Monday. "As long as you do your part on the team, usually you'll get the personal accolades and the personal goals that you have in your mind. So, in my mind, my goal for myself is to jell really well with this team and do whatever coach [Mike] LaFleur wants me to do, and do it to the best of my ability."
Arizona might ask a lot of Love, an explosive, three-down back capable of accounting for the majority of an offense's production even as a rookie. If one needs a comparison, Bijan Robinson's essential role in Atlanta fits. But Love happily pointed out he isn't the only playmaker listed on the Cardinals' offensive roster, and while he's willing to do whatever LaFleur's staff wants, he understands there are options.
"All the pressure is not going to be on me," Love said when asked what excites him most about Arizona's offense. "You've got guys like Marv(in Harrison Jr.), Trey (McBride). We've got a lot of guys in the running back room, as well, so split some carries if need be. You don't need just one guy going out there and getting 30 carries a game. What do we got, 21 games this season potentially? So, that's not going to do too good in the long run. But I just love being around guys that are great at football. A lot of professionals around, the NFL, it's just great to be around, and I'm excited to showcase our skills together."
While Love said all the right things concerning his goals, he admitted he's still chasing individual honors just as he did at Notre Dame. The difference, though, is only wants to win them as part of the greater team effort.
"That's kind of how I've always been," Love said. "Never really been the type to set, well I've always been the type to set goals for myself, but they've always been connected to the team in some type of way. Like last year, I wanted to win the Doak Walker Award in college, wanted to win the Heisman, but those things weren't going to happen unless I did what I had to do for my team and play my role for the team. Both of them go hand in hand, so I kind of try to make everything team-oriented.
"At the end of the day, it's a team sport. You can't do anything by yourself, especially as a running back. Got to have a good O-line, got to have a quarterback that can read defenses and see a lot of things, and you've got to have receivers that can take the top off to lighten up the box, as well. Everything goes hand in hand, so I try not to make things personal and make it all team-oriented. Because if the team is good, a lot of times you're going to do good as well."
An obvious question exists under center, where the Cardinals have a trio of quarterbacks on the roster. Each of them could realistically see the field in 2026. Jacoby Brissett is expected to emerge as their starter, but that doesn't mean Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck won't also get some reps, especially if Arizona struggles in its first year under LaFleur.
Regardless of whether they'll admit it, Love's selection was made with this in mind. If Arizona is going to insulate itself from quarterback-related disaster, it needs to surround a given signal-caller with talented playmakers.
McBride, Harrison, Love and receiver Michael Wilson form a respectable quartet of playmakers. If Love fills a Robinson-like role, expect him to emerge as the most important of the four.
"As far as numbers, nothing's ever easy," Love said. "The way I think of it now is I'm going to have to earn every yard that I get, every touchdown I get. In college, both years I started, I scored 20-plus touchdowns per year. I haven't seen what that looks like in the NFL. I think a lot of guys probably don't score that many touchdowns, but that's the standard that I've set for myself. Hopefully I can live up to that standard through hard work and dedication and discipline, but as far as the numbers I try to not to think about them or I try not to set specific numbers. I'm not making it too personal.
"Like I said, everything's about the team. If you make sure you're doing your part on the team, those things will come, and the rewards will come and the accolades will come and the All-Pros will come. All that stuff will come as long as you are keeping everything team-oriented and you're playing for your guys."
