Who Should I Start? Ladd McConkey or Jeremiyah Love

Monday, August 24, 12:15 PM

Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said that rookie first-round running back Jeremiyah Love (ankle) is progressing, but he will be sidelined this week, according to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. Love suffered a high-ankle sprain in the first week of the preseason, and although he is missing valuable time before his first NFL season, the good news is that he will avoid ankle surgery that would have made him unavailable for the start of the regular season in early September. It is still a bit unclear if Love will be available for Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers, and if he is, he could be pretty limited from a workload perspective. Arizona's backfield has been banged up this summer, with James Conner (foot) and Trey Benson (knee) still recovering from season-ending injuries in 2025. Even if Love is ready to roll for Week 1, Tyler Allgeier is trending toward being the Cardinals' primary running back to kick off the regular season. Love's fantasy price was inflated after the Cardinals took him third overall out of Notre Dame, but his preseason injury has knocked him down draft boards a bit as an RB2 target in the early rounds for his explosiveness in all facets of the game.