The Arizona Cardinals took their Ferrari out of the garage when No. 3 overall pick Jeremiyah Love played his first preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders. But was that a reckless decision?
While that resulted in a 27-14 win for the good guys, Arizona's first win of the preseason was unfortunately overshadowed by injuries with more long-term ramifications. Both of the Cardinals' first two draft selections, Love and right guard Chase Bisontis, suffered significant injuries.
Love's high ankle sprain may be the headliner because of the draft pedigree, fantasy football aspect, etc. But Cardinals fans who have followed Bisontis throughout training camp and preseason know his season-ending MCL injury is a brutal blow to their O-line.
This initially looked to be a strong draft class to add building blocks to the Cardinals rebuild. While that very well still be the case, it will have to be put on hold, as all of Arizona's top four draft selections from this class are currently injured.
Cardinals need to learn from Jeremiyah Love's injury
Hopefully, Love's injury will heal in time for their Week 1 regular-season matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers on September 13. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Saturday that the Cardinals are hoping that's the case.
At the very least, Arizona should sit Love out for their remaining two preseason matchups against the Dallas Cowboys (August 22) and Green Bay Packers (August 28). But should he have even had any preseason action at all?
Sure, it's easier to say in retrospect now that we know the unfortunate status of Love's injury. That said, Mike Sando of The Athletic brought up a telling stat on X about Love's number of touches being higher compared to former first-round running backs.
"Jeremiyah Love's 14 touches in this game are third most for a full preseason by a first-round rookie RB in last 10 years (out of 12 RBs who played in preseason)," Sando said. He also added that those players included 2017 Christian McCaffrey, who had 20 touches in three games, and 2021 Najee Harris, with 17 in three.
Even then, Harris was the Pittsburgh Steelers' No. 24 overall draft selection. With Love, we're talking about the No. 3 overall investment. The potential face of your rebuild!
"It's a rookie that hadn't played," LaFleur said Sunday, explaining his decision.
LaFleur and the Cardinals wanted to evaluate how Love fit into the offense and likely give him a chance to adapt to the NFL in a preseason game. But hopefully this is a lesson for a new head coach: premier running backs shouldn't be risked in the preseason, and certainly not to this extent.
At least Love looked dang good on those carries before the injury, giving Cardinals fans a glimpse of what they'll see when he returns from injury.
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