Arizona Cardinals top pick Jeremiyah Love working on kickoff return at OTAs
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Jeremiyah Love takes kick returns at Cardinals OTA's.
The Arizona Cardinals kicked off their voluntary OTA’s on Monday, and rookie Jeremiyah Love was seen working with a surprising group.
Love, the No. 3 overall pick out of Notre Dame, is set to energize the Arizona backfield this year, but there may be another spot head coach Mike LaFleur has in mind for the young rookie. Love was spotted practicing returning kicks for the Cardinals on their first day of OTA’s
Arizona Cardinals top pick Jeremiyah Love working on kickoff return at OTAs
Love only had three career kickoff returns at Notre Dame, while his former teammate and current Seattle Seahawk Jadarian Price handled the bulk of the duties. So while it may be unfamiliar territory for Love, his inexperience likely isn’t because he can’t do the job, it was because he didn’t need to.
Still, with Arizona’s depth at running back, and Love’s elusiveness, it may not be a bad idea to try him out at kick returner. That is, of course, if the Cardinals are willing to live with the increased risk of injury.
However he is used, Love is the early favorite for the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year.
“I think the easy answer is Jeremiyah Love,” wrote NFL Analyst Albert Breer about the race. “The Cardinals figure to build their offense around him, the running back position translates quickly from college to pro, and he’s a really, really good player.
“But I’d temper that just a bit in that I’d bet Arizona will try not to overuse him, with James Conner and Tyler Allgeier also in that backfield.”
If the Cardinals do choose to use Love on kickoff returns, it would be reasonable to expect his usage at running back to dip a bit while Conner and Allgeier spell him. But with the league’s hardest schedule, and a team lacking top-end talent, the Cardinals may look to get Love involved in as many ways as they can to squeeze out all of his incredible talents.
Meanwhile, one player was notably absent at the start of the team activities. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett is still holding out for a new contract and was not present for the start of OTA’s. When asked how things are going with their QB1, Cardinals coach LaFleur didn’t have much to add on what he’s already said a week ago.
“Same as where we were a few weeks ago,” said LaFleur. It’s not mandatory. Like I’ve said, he’s played football. The hardest thing to do in this league is to get used to the speed of the game. He’s done, probably, everything that we’ve ever done schematically, it’s just a little bit different verbiage. We’ve had contact, I’ll keep it at that.”
The Cardinals are hoping to reach a resolution with Brissett soon, but in the meantime, veteran Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck will handle the quarterbacking duties. Beck, a third-round pick out of Miami, could potentially see the field as a rookie if the Brissett situation can’t get resolved.
Trevor Ripley Trevor Ripley is a Heavy writer covering the Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals. More about Trevor Ripley
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