Jeremiyah Love is better than Fernando Mendoza and creates ‘fear factor’ with rare Christian McCaffrey skill

The Las Vegas Raiders have been predicted for months to take Fernando Mendoza at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft.

But a dual-threat running back with serious pre-draft buzz could turn Mendoza into a big mistake for Tom Brady‘s team.

getty

Who is the best talent in NFL Draft?

ESPN NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid was asked by talkSPORT to name his top five prospects, without considering a team’s specific needs.

There was an instant vote for No. 1 — and Reid said that his second prospect wasn’t close.

“My first player is Jeremiyah Love out of Notre Dame. I just think he’s so special,” Reid exclusively told talkSPORT.

There’s nothing officially barring the Raiders from passing on the ‘perfect’ Mendoza and selecting a 6ft and 212lb running back who who rushed for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, while adding 27 catches for 280 receiving yards and three receiving TDs.

Love earned All-American honors and placed third in the Heisman Trophy vote, only trailing Mendoza and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia.

“You can use him (Love) in so many different positions,” Reid said. 

“You can line him out wide like Notre Dame did and allow him to run routes from the slot. You can really build a lot of passing concepts around him, as well. 

“He just doesn’t ‘fit in.’ He’s not one of those running backs that you just add somewhere in a spot. In a passing concept, you can actually build concepts around him.”

Raiders might regret passing on Notre Dame star

The San Francisco 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey led all NFL running backs with 924 receiving yards last season, while Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson and Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs rounded out the top three.

Reid sees a strong comparison between Love and Gibbs, who became the No. 1 running back with the Lions after Detroit traded backfield co-star David Montgomery to the Houston Texans in March.

getty

getty

“Stylistically, he (Love) reminds me a lot of Jahmyr Gibbs when he was coming out of Alabama, as far as the fear factor that he places into defenses,” Reid said.

But there’s a reason that Las Vegas is constantly connected to Mendoza and never directly associated with Love’s dual-threat running back talent.

The Raiders have already signed veteran Kirk Cousins at quarterback and need a long-term solution at the position.

Las Vegas also used the No. 6 overall pick last year on Ashton Jeanty, who ran for 975 yards and five TDs, while adding 55 catches for 346 receiving yards and five receiving TDs after a highlight-filled college career at Boise State.

Titans make sense for Love at No. 4

If Love is still on the board at No. 2, the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans and New York Giants will be waiting in the draft.

“He is a unicorn,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd.

NFL's Greatest......

Ranking the top 10......

Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady?

Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top?

Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and more

Tight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare?

“He is as talented and gifted an athlete as I’ve ever been around, and I think he could be an elite wide receiver, he could be an elite DB (defensive back). He’s just gifted with a unique skill set, the balance, the ability to jump over you, the ability to run through you.”

Saquon Barkley‘s 2,005-yard season that powered the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl trophy in 2024 changed the view of modern running backs.

Derrick Henry ranked second in the NFL with 1,595 rushing yards last season and is on talkSPORT’s all-time top 10 list, while McCaffrey has won Offensive and Comeback Player of the Year awards in recent seasons.

But it’s been eight years since a running back was taken at No. 2 overall (Barkley in 2018 by the Giants) and Love could fall to the Titans this year at No. 4 or the Giants at No. 5.

Irish coach says RB could be a WR

“Some of his most impressive runs aren’t the ones that you’re going to see on TV,” Freeman said.

“It’s the ones that as you’re watching film and go, ‘Oh my god, he made that play a 4-yard gain, it should have been a 2-yard loss.’ I mean, he’s just, he’s really special, and he’s a unique, unique talent.”

Reid echoed that praise and is adamant that the best player in the 2026 draft class is a running back from Notre Dame who can also be a wide receiver.

Which means that if the Raiders didn’t have Jeanty and didn’t need a franchise QB, Love should be a lock for the top pick.

“Just the explosive factor that he brings to the table,” Reid said. “He has fantastic vision.  So Jeremiyah Love is easily my first-ranked player in this class.”

Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for all the news, exclusives, interviews and more.