- Jeremiyah Love has all the qualities of an elite running back: The Notre Dame star brings size, athleticism and heaping amounts of production.
- Other players could join the exclusive list: Caleb Downs, Rueben Bain Jr. and Sonny Styles are all prolific options but may need to answer questions at the NFL Combine.
- 2026 NFL Draft season is here: Try the best-in-class PFF Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2026's top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated Reading Time: 18 minutes
As we march through the draft calendar, our view of the 2026 NFL Draft is becoming more clear. There is still a very important piece of the draft evaluation puzzle that we need to place on the board in the NFL Scouting Combine coming at the end of February, but outside of that, we’ve seen all the game tape these prospects will have. We’ve made it through All-Star bowl weeks as well.
With every class, there comes a baseline level of excitement. These are new players who, in theory, have the potential to put franchises over the hump when it comes to turning the corner and becoming a contender, making the playoffs or even reaching the Super Bowl. But how do we measure the positive talk surrounding players?
One way to do that is by identifying “blue-chip” prospects in a class. That term — blue-chip — refers to a player that has everything you are looking for in a prospect at their position when projecting them to the NFL, including both a high floor and a high ceiling. They have top-tier measurables and athleticism, ample experience and impactful production.
Identifying how many blue-chip players there are in a class can be a signal of how strong a group is when it comes to the value of top-10, top-five and even the No. 1 overall picks. So, what about this 2026 class? Are there any blue-chip prospects? If so, how many?
As previously stated, we still have the Combine to evaluate official size and also athletic ability for some of these players who might still have some question marks in certain areas. But even without the Combine, I believe there is at least one blue-chip prospect in this class: Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
Let’s look at Love through the categories that make a blue-chip player.
First, let's examine his measurables. We won’t have official numbers until the Combine, but Notre Dame lists Love at 6-feet and around 215 pounds. His height, if accurate, would put him in the 70th percentile for running backs in the NFL, and that weight would put him just above 50th percentile. Those numbers easily check the size boxes you want to see for a potential RB1, especially when you combine them with his athleticism.
I could understand why Love might opt out of all athletic testing at the Combine, because he can simply let his tape do the talking — but selfishly, I would love to see him test, because his tracking numbers suggest he would wow us. Love was a former sprinter in high school, recording a 10.76 in the 100-meter dash. He has also recorded an average max speed (five fastest runs) of over 21 mph in each of the last two seasons, and even got over 22 mph at one point this year.
His in-game athleticism score was also in the 80.0s or 90.0s throughout his entire career. When you watch the tape and see how he explodes in his first step, you can believe all those numbers. As an athlete, we once again check the boxes of a blue-chip player.
Then we have the category of production. Love has rushed for 2,469 yards in the last two seasons (2nd-most in the FBS, over 1,100 each year) with 1,607 yards after contact (2nd-most in the FBS) and 35 rushing touchdowns (1st in the FBS). His 96.1 PFF rushing grade over that two-year period was the best as well. He also recorded an 82.5 PFF receiving grade with over 500 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns and 25 receiving first downs over the last two seasons, giving him true three-down impact ability.
Likewise, Love’s missed tackle forced (MTF) per attempt of 0.33 was in the 95th percentile; his 4.45 yards after contact per attempt average was in the 98th percentile; his MTF per reception was in the 90th percentile; and his yards per route run as a running back was in the 85th percentile. The production box is checked, and playing in 41 games with 29 starts over just three years as a true junior ticks the experience box, too.
All of that makes Love a blue-chip prospect in my mind. There are a couple of other guys that are close.
I think Ohio State safety Caleb Downs is a blue-chip prospect in just about every way, other than that he might not be a top-tier athlete. If he tests well at the Combine, he is absolutely right there with Love. Miami (FL) defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. has the overall size, athleticism and production of a blue-chip edge rusher, but if he does have much shorter arms than average, that would hold him back from that true blue-chip label. Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles could very well be a blue-chip prospect when we start to see his NFL career manifest, but he just doesn’t have a ton of true drop coverage experience coming into the NFL (he just wasn’t asked to do it a lot this year).
I love all three of those prospects. I believe they are worthwhile top-10 picks and will be fantastic pros, but I wouldn’t call them blue-chippers yet (pending some Combine numbers).
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