Love starting for Cardinals is 'abundantly clear'
Kyle Dvorchak breaks down Jeremiyah Love's usage for the Cardinals in the preseason and where he feels comfortable drafting the rookie RB in fantasy drafts.
Video Transcript
Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiah Love turned 11 carries into 58 yards and three catches into 14 yards in the preseason opener versus the Raiders.
Love did technically split reps with Tyler Algier, but he was the starter out there with the starters, and he out-snapped Algier 8-3, all while Jacoby Brissett was on the field.
Most importantly, he also ran all the routes when Jacoby Brissett was on the field.
Maybe even more importantly, he just looked really good.
Love did play far deeper into the game than Tyler Algier.
That's kind of how you get to 14 touches in a preseason game, but it's still abundantly clear that he is the starter and Tyler Algier is simply a backup.
No surprise, Tyler Algier is also not a pass-catching backup.
I will note, the one time we saw them get near the goal line, it was a very limited sample, Jeremiah Love was also on the field.
One other rather important note, although luckily it does seem to be minor, is that Jeremiah Love did suffer an ankle injury in this game.
Again, maybe a good reason not to give your rookie running back 14 touches.
Head coach Michael Flores said he could have returned during this game had it been a regular season game.
So if you do see the ankle story pop up anywhere, it does seem to be truly a non-factor.
And given that I think it is a non-factor, Love currently is going right around the middle of the third round in early fantasy drafts.
I think that is too cheap for a top five drafted running back who looked the part in his first preseason game.
I'm much more comfortable taking him at the 2-3 turn in my drafts.
