Cowboys Projected to Land ‘Difference Maker’ Compared to $22 Million All-Pro RB

For fans tuning into the College Football Playoff following the 2024 season, they got to see something new, with a 12-team field for the first time.

It didn’t take Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love long to make a first impression, introducing himself to a national audience with a 98-yard touchdown run in the opening game against Indiana — the first score in the very first game of the expanded playoff.

Love is now projected as a first round pick following the 2025 season and the NFL Mock Draft Database predicting he’ll be the player to fix the backfield woes for the Dallas Cowboys.

Using a consensus of all of the mock drafts available, Love is projected to the Cowboys with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.

NFL Draft Buzz compared Love, 6-foot and 210 pounds, to Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowl running back Bijan Robinson, who is coming off his first Pro Bowl selection in 2024.

Robinson was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft and signed a 4-year, $21.9 million rookie contract.

From NFL Draft Buzz: “(Love) is not built to be a 25-touch bruiser in a downhill scheme, but that’s not where the league is headed anyway. With a season of growth remaining at Notre Dame, Love has the upward trajectory to emerge as a true difference-maker who changes how defenses approach entire offensive schemes.”

If there’s one thing the Cowboys have been missing at running back, it’s a difference maker.

Love on Track to Leave College After 3 Seasons

Love’s ascension to college football’s elite has him on track to leave Notre Dame after 3 seasons. In 2024, he had over 1,400 yards of total offense and 19 total touchdowns, including 1,125 rushing yards in 16 games at an average of 6.9 yards per carry.

He was also one of the stars on a team that advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, where the Irish lost to Ohio State.

Headed into 2025, Love is also one of college football’s highest paid running backs — he has an NIL valuation of $1.6 million, according to On3. He’s also about to be one of the most recognizable players in college football, as he’s one of the players featured on the cover of EA Sports College Football 26 video game.

Cowboys Don’t Have Real Answer at RB in 2025

The Cowboys didn’t really lift a finger to stop last season’s leading rusher, Rico Dowdle, from leaving in free agency on a 1-year, $2.75 million contract with the Carolina Panthers. Dallas also didn’t exactly set the world on fire by signing Javonte Williams, the leading rusher for the Denver Broncos in 2024, to a 1-year, $3 million contract.

Williams rushed for just 513 yards and 4 touchdowns last season while averaging a paltry 3.7 yards per carry.

There might be help on the way in the form of 2025 fifth round pick (No. 149 overall) Jaydon Blue, who ESPN’s Mike Clay called the “Wild Card” in the Dallas offense.

Blue scored 18 touchdowns in 3 seasons at Texas — 11 rushing and 7 receiving.

“Blue will begin his career behind newly acquired veterans Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, but neither have played well in recent seasons, so this depth chart is wide open,” Clay wrote on May 16. “The lead back role in Dallas is there for the taking.”