Love burst onto the college football scene in 2024 with 1,125 yards rushing (6.9-yard average) and 17 touchdowns, adding 28 receptions and two receiving TDs in his 16 games. The Irish made it all the way to the state game with a lot of help from Love, who had a 96-yard TD run in the opener against Indiana.
Entering the 2025 season as one of the top quarterbacks in the country, Love improved his sophomore production despite playing in four fewer games, earning a spot as a Heisman Trophy finalist and winning the Doak Walker Award. He rushed for 1,372 yards (fourth best in FBS) and 18 TDs (third best) in just 12 games, adding 27 receptions and three more scores. That brought his two-year touchdown total to 40 over his last 28 college games, only failing to find the end zone in three of those contests.
Love, listed at 6-foot-6 and 214 pounds, is a big-play threat anywhere on the field. While he could be a little impatient at times and guilty of missing open lanes, his instant acceleration and elusiveness will be highly regarded in NFL circles. If anything, the receiving talent was underutilized in college, and NFL teams envision Love as a “space” player who is likely to catch passes more often in the league.
Love is arguably a top-10 overall prospect regardless of position, and possibly even a top-five prospect in this class when all the dust settles. However, the upside in the draft hasn’t reached the level it did a generation or two ago, so it’s not guaranteed he’ll reach those heights come April.
Still, versatile backs like Jahmyr Gibbs, Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, De’Von Achane and others are still highly valued these days, able to stress defenses in multiple ways and allow players to operate in rhythm without being replaced. That should benefit Love’s phenomenal draft, as teams are looking for an X-factor likely to give him a high grade.