Two weeks before the 2026 NFL Draft opens in Pittsburgh, one storyline is pulling more attention than almost any other: will the Tennessee Titans use the fourth overall pick on Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love? The odds favor it. Multiple league sources believe Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi is particularly high on Love, and ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler has reported that conversations around the league treat a Tennessee selection as a real possibility. DraftKings currently lists Love as the +145 favorite to be the Titans’ choice at No. 4.
The last time a running back was taken inside the top five was 2018, when the New York Giants selected Saquon Barkley at No. 2. Love has the profile to end that drought. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine, the second-fastest time among all running backs at this year’s event, drawing comparisons to Detroit Lions Pro Bowler Jahmyr Gibbs.
What Love brings to the field
Love closed out his college career with back-to-back dominant seasons. In 2024, he rushed for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns with Notre Dame, contributing 28 receptions in the passing game as the Fighting Irish reached the National Championship. His 2025 follow-up was even stronger, and his performance earned him the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back and a third-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting. The Bleacher Report NFL Scouting Department currently ranks him the second-best overall prospect in the class, behind only Ohio State safety Caleb Downs.
His appeal extends well beyond the raw numbers. Love runs with a forward lean, shows patience reading blocks, and can line up in multiple alignments, making him harder to scheme against than a traditional between-the-tackles back. Those qualities have also drawn interest from elsewhere in the top ten. ESPN’s Fowler noted that both the New York Giants at No. 5 and the Washington Commanders at No. 7 have done significant homework on him, which means Tennessee cannot assume he will still be available if they hesitate.
A Titans offense in need of a spark
The context in Nashville makes the fit feel almost unavoidable. The Titans finished last season 3-14, ranking 31st in total yards per game at 259.6 and 30th in points per game at 16.7. Those numbers represent the franchise’s worst scoring output since 2014 and its worst total yardage since 1976. Tony Pollard led the backfield with 1,082 yards and five touchdowns, but his contract runs only through this season, and the team has not moved aggressively to extend him. His release becomes a real possibility if Love is selected.
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econd-year quarterback Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in 2025, showed flashes of his potential in his first season, but the lack of a consistent running game complicated his development. Ward’s time-to-throw was among the longest in the league, in part because Tennessee’s skill players struggled to create separation quickly enough to bail him out. Love’s ability to threaten on every touch could change that dynamic significantly, giving Ward a pressure release valve and forcing opposing defenses to account for an entirely different dimension of the offense.
The positional value debate
Not everyone is convinced the Titans should pull the trigger. Head coach Robert Saleh offered a note of caution this week, saying he genuinely likes what Tennessee already has in the backfield, a comment that has introduced a small amount of doubt into what had felt like an increasingly settled outcome. There is also a broader argument in the draft community that investing heavily in a running back does not reliably improve a team’s rushing output, since offensive line quality and play-calling tend to matter more than the individual back.
Still, Love is not a conventional prospect. His combination of speed, receiving ability, and consistency over two full seasons at Notre Dame puts him in a different tier than most running backs who enter this conversation. Saleh’s stated philosophy of taking the best available player, combined with Borgonzi’s reported enthusiasm, suggests the Titans are at minimum prepared to make that argument if Love is still on the board when they pick.
The 2026 NFL Draft begins April 23 in Pittsburgh. Whether Love crosses the stage that night, and whether it is in a Titans hat, is the question the league is still waiting to answer.
