Week 1 Fantasy Football Buy, Sell, or Hold: Examining Cardinals Rookie RB Jeremiyah Love

The Arizona Cardinals selected running back Jeremiyah Love with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, immediately making him a hot commodity in fantasy football.

However, in Love’s preseason debut against the Las Vegas Raiders, he suffered a high ankle sprain. Given Love’s injury ahead of his rookie campaign, should we buy, sell, or hold him in fantasy football entering Week 1?

Before deciding whether we should buy, sell, or hold Love, let’s discuss his Week 1 status and 2026 fantasy football outlook.

All stats used in this article are from PFF and Sumer Sports unless stated otherwise.

Will Jeremiyah Love Be Active in Week 1?

When Love first sustained his high ankle sprain in Arizona’s preseason opener, his status for Week 1 was put in jeopardy. Love was inactive for the Cardinals’ final two preseason contests, and he’s yet to log a full practice since his injury occurred.

LaFleur: Jeremiyah Love (ankle) "progressing really well" toward playing Week 1.
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) August 31, 2026

Recently, head coach Mike LaFleur indicated that Love is “progressing” in his recovery, but he avoided revealing whether the rookie back would be ready for Week 1. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo also shared that there’s uncertainty surrounding Love’s availability for the Cardinals’ season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.

At the moment, it seems like a true 50/50 chance that Love plays in Week 1, and we likely won’t get an update until the Cardinals begin practicing this week. There’s a chance Tyler Allgeier gets an uptick in touches until Love is fully healthy again.

Jeremiyah Love 2026 Fantasy Football Outlook

Before leaving his preseason debut against the Raiders, Love turned his 11 carries into 58 yards and 3 receptions into 14 yards. Although it was an exhibition game, that sort of workload is a positive sign for Love’s long-term fantasy football outlook.

Jeremiyah Love making a couple of guys miss 👀

Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/0zWxy27wgW
— NFL (@NFL) August 14, 2026

Coming out of Notre Dame, Love finished his collegiate career with the most yards per attempt (6.9), third-most rushing touchdowns (18), and fourth-most yards after contact per attempt (4.5) among college backs with 150-plus carries in 2025. As a receiver, Love also had the 13th-most yards per reception (10.4), 2nd-most receiving touchdowns (3), and 11th-most yards per route run (1.83) last season.

While the Cardinals signed Allgeier in the offseason, he’s failed to eclipse 18 receptions in a single season across his first four years in the league. Therefore, not only does Love have a clear receiving role to begin his career, there’s an avenue for him to handle the majority of the touches in the backfield once he gets healthy.

Buy, Sell, Or Hold Verdict: Jeremiyah Love

It’s not ideal for Love to be recovering from an ankle sprain and missing practice ahead of his regular season debut, especially considering where he was going in fantasy football drafts. There was a time when Love was a second-round pick in drafts, and he’s still holding an average draft position (ADP) of 29.5, per FantasyPros’ real-time ADP in half-PPR leagues.

Unless you’re able to land a player with a higher ADP in a trade, it’s best to hold onto Love in fantasy football heading into Week 1. There’s no need to overreact to Love’s ankle injury right now, as you’re unlikely to get positive value in a trade given his uncertain status.

If Love gets off to a slow start while he gets eased back into action, there could also be a buy window in fantasy football for the highly-touted rookie back.

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