Mel Kiper says college football star reminds him of Reggie Bush

While reviewing his latest 2026 NFL Draft big board, Kiper noted that one of his very top prospects reminds him of former USC Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush

Reggie Busha | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Mel Kiper Jr., the senior NFL Draft expert at ESPN, made a lofty comparison when unveiling his top 10 running backs on his latest 2026 big board.

As the 2025 college football season turns the page from Week 7 to Week 8 and effectively crosses the midway point in the year, Kiper issued a refurbished NFL Draft big board which included a breakdown of his favorite 10 prospects at each position. When it came to the running backs, he included Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love as a top RB and issued an eye-catching comparison.

"Love reminds me a lot of Reggie Bush," Kiper noted, referencing the former Heisman winner at USC. "The 20-year-old has vision and burst between the tackles and to the outside, and he can break tackles with ease (29 forced missed tackles on the season)."

Jeremiyah Love can get the job done between the tackles, but it's his ability to turn normal gains into long touchdowns plus his ability to get involved in the passing game that makes him such a covetable NFL prospect in this expert's eyes.

"Once he gets into space, he can take it to the house with his breakaway speed, too," Kiper writes. "But Love isn't only an outstanding runner. He also is a high-impact pass catcher. An NFL team will be able to flank him out wide and create a whole other dimension of the offense."

Jeremiyah Love is Kiper's No. 1 running back!

With such high praise, it's probably no shock to hear that Mel Kiper rated Jeremiyah Love as his top running back for the 2026 NFL Draft as of mid-October, but also, the No. 2 overall player on the entire big board! Love entered the 2025 season with enormous hype and credit to him for delivering on his projection through seven weeks of the season.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame has had other help in the backfield in the form of Jadarian Price, who comes in as high as No. 3 in Kiper's running back rankings, sandwiching two Fighting Irish backs in between Justice Haynes at Michigan. View the full top 10 running backs right here...

1. Jeremiyah Love | Notre Dame
2. Justice Haynes | Michigan
3. Jadarian Price | Notre Dame
4. Jonah Coleman | Washington
5. Demond Claiborne | Wake Forest
6. Nicholas Singleton | Penn State
7. Quintrevion Wisner | Texas
8. Kaytron Allen | Penn State
9. CJ Baxter | Texas
10. Le'Veon Moss | Texas A&M

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