Jeremiyah Love vs Tyler Allgeier: Who is the Cardinals 2026 Fantasy Football Breakout?
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The Arizona Cardinals entered free agency with a plan in place to revamp this offense under new head coach Mike LaFleur. At the top of their list was the running back position, in which the team signed Tyler Allgeier to a 2-year deal. The thought was that Allgeier would be the lead back, supported by James Conner. That all changed when the team drafted Jeremiyah Love with the 3rd overall pick. As Allgeier is left with false promises, the competition is now one of note in fantasy football. How will this divvy up?
Fantasy Football Outlook
The Cardinals do not draft Love at 3rd overall without slotting him in to be their RB1. That is his destiny, and the question is to what extent Love's run share will be. It could be 40%, leading Allgeier and Conner, or a dominant 75%+.
Nothing is confirmed regarding the run share on this offense, and it should not be forgotten that they have an RB4 in Trey Benson. However, logic would expect that Love, while being the RB1, will be more of an RB1-A and that his run share will not be too dominant.
With Allgeier being a starting-caliber running back, he will demand work, and he will get it. The early expectation is that the ratio of Love: Allgeier will be something like 65:35. Conner and Benson will pick up the crumbs in 3rd-down roles. It is also possible that the Cardinals trade one of them before the season starts, more likely Benson.
The good news for Allgeier is that he may retain goal-line duty. Allgeier is a 220-lb bowling ball, slightly bigger than Love, and a pure downhill runner.
As the offensive coordinator, Mike LaFleur has rarely ever gone with one solid running back. The only time in 5 years as an offensive coordinator did LaFleur feed a running back over 65% of the run share. That was Kyren Williams in 2024, with a rookie Blake Corum in the balance, injured at that time. Last season with the Rams, we saw Corum surge into a notable role, ending the season with a roughly a 30% run share.
Corum is not only good but also similar in style to Allgeier. It may be worth noting that Allgeier is a familiar running back whom LaFleur will surely trust as his RB1-B rather than RB2. The rough projected run share in Arizona may look like the following:
This is extremely volatile*
Player | Run Share % | Fantasy Football Ranking Estimate |
|---|---|---|
Jeremiyah Love | 55% | RB12 |
Tyler Allgeier | 30% | RB45 |
James Conner | 12% | RB60 |
Trey Benson | 3% | RB80 |
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.