Why Chiefs Fans Shouldn’t Fall in Love With Jeremiyah Love Just Yet

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Brett Veach said last week that he’d feel much more comfortable picking in the first hour of the draft than the second hour.

“Every year when we were picking 31, 32, I'd always say, ‘Man, if we were just at 24, 25, we'd be exactly where we want to be,’” Veach said from the combine Tuesday. “And now that we're at 9, I'm like, ‘Man, if we were just at 4 or 5, we'd be exactly where we want to be.’

“So, I think every GM kind of has that mindset where, unless you have the first pick, there's a certain element that you can't control. And you have to let the dominoes fall, if you will.”

lov — Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (4) runs the ball down the sideline during the first round of the College Football Playoff between Notre Dame and Indiana at Notre Dame Stadium on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dominoes appear falling already

The Jeremiyah Love domino, unfortunately for the Chiefs, is expected to fall much earlier than they’re on the clock at 9.

Consider that draft expert Todd McShay had Love ranked as his No. 1 player overall. And that was before Love measured at 6-feet and 212 pounds, then ran a 4.36-second 40 at the combine. In the 26 years McShay has covered the draft, he’s never had a running back on that perch – not even Saquon Barkley or Bijan Robinson.

“It’s weird for me to have a running back at No. 1,” McShay said on Monday's edition of Up and Adams with Kay Adams. “Bijan was close, but he wasn’t. Saquon was really close. I think I had finished with him at 2 or 3 that year.

“And I think the thing that impressed all of us with Love was, if you watch him, catching passes and running routes.”

bijan robinso — Jan 4, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) runs against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Jahmyr Gibbs neighborhood

His pass catching and route running was impressive. Over Love’s three years at Notre Dame, he averaged 9.4 yards per catch (63 receptions, 594 yards). And combined with his 6.7 career yards per carry, he wound up averaging 7.0 yards every time he touched the ball for the Irish. He found the end zone an incredible 41 times in three seasons.

McShay said he’s not ready to group Love in the same dangerous category as Jahmyr Gibbs, whose career entered another stage on Monday when the Lions traded David Montgomery to Houston. But McShay certainly doesn’t see Love lasting into the Chiefs’ neighborhood at ninth overall.

“To see the way he's able to run routes,” McShay said, “and to see that 4.36, legit, like right there posted for us, at his size, he's just special. And you look at the top of the draft … We all agree that Fernando Mendoza is going No. 1 to the Raiders.

“After that, I think it's going to probably be an edge rusher to the Jets. Maybe Sonny Styles gets into that mix. But then you look at Arizona at 3, Tennessee at 4, even the Giants at 5, with (Cam) Skattebo coming off of that injury. I don't think Jeremiyah Love gets out of the top five, and it won't shock me if he's the third pick in this draft.”

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