Cardinals' Running Back Mystery May Have Just Been Solved

GLENDALE — Intrigue around the Arizona Cardinals' running back position is higher than it's ever been.

That's natural given the team's mix of recently acquired talent and returning stable of backs. The Cardinals handed free agent runner Tyler Allgeier a two-year, $12.25 million contract this offseason before making Jeremiyah Love the third overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

That's on top of returning ball-carriers in James Conner and Trey Benson with Bam Knight also in the mix.

The focus, specifically under first-year head coach Mike LaFleur and his new offense, shifts towards Love and how often the organization will utilize him. In some eyes, a fresh running back out of college who possesses the dynamic abilities Love does should get as much run as possible.

In LaFleur's eyes, more doesn't always equal better.

"Not one running back can take all 65 snaps," LaFleur told reporters ahead of practice.

"We've seen that story when guys are a little bit overloaded, and whether it hurts them in one year, I think over time — one year, two years, or whatever it is — being able to split those guys up to one, keep them fresh throughout that game, but two, keep them as healthy as they can for 17 games is the appropriate way to go."

Allgeier has taken a slight majority of starting reps with the first team throughout training camp, though Love has also worked his way into the mix. While Conner is still out of team drills due to his foot injury, Bam Knight and Trey Benson have been mixed into the second and third team, respectively.

The Cardinals are shaping up to have a 1-2 punch coming out of the backfield with Love and Allgeier leading the way.

"It's probably the best thing you can do," Allgeier said at training camp.

"Obviously, it saves the body. It's a lot less taxing and all that. I think that's a privilege, being able to have two or even three great guys in the room, being able to compete and being able to be a running back community or whatever, however you guys want to say, just having that rotation, because it's pretty taxing.

"I think you can see that around the league. Some guys obviously are elite at doing it, but they take care of themselves in practice. But being able to just feed off each other and having that rotation, I feel like it's a really good thing."

In the lone two seasons LaFleur was an offensive play-caller for the New York Jets, his offense typically used a running back by committee approach. That wasn't quite the case early on in his Los Angeles Rams tenure, though it's unknown how much of that Sean McVay was responsible for.

There's a lot of unknown when it comes to Arizona's running back room, whether it be exactly how many ball-carriers LaFleur will carry into the regular season or how touches will be split once action is underway.

Yet one thing is crystal clear since camp at State Farm Stadium began: It's not going to be a one-man job.

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