While Love said all the right things concerning his goals, he admitted he’s still chasing individual honors just as he did at Notre Dame. The difference, though, is only wants to win them as part of the greater team effort.
“That’s kind of how I’ve always been,” Love said. “Never really been the type to set, well I’ve always been the type to set goals for myself, but they’ve always been connected to the team in some type of way. Like last year, I wanted to win the Doak Walker Award in college, wanted to win the Heisman, but those things weren’t going to happen unless I did what I had to do for my team and play my role for the team. Both of them go hand in hand, so I kind of try to make everything team-oriented.
“At the end of the day, it’s a team sport. You can’t do anything by yourself, especially as a running back. Got to have a good O-line, got to have a quarterback that can read defenses and see a lot of things, and you’ve got to have receivers that can take the top off to lighten up the box, as well. Everything goes hand in hand, so I try not to make things personal and make it all team-oriented. Because if the team is good, a lot of times you’re going to do good as well.”
An obvious question exists under center, where the Cardinals have a trio of quarterbacks on the roster. Each of them could realistically see the field in 2026. Jacoby Brissett is expected to emerge as their starter, but that doesn’t mean Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck won’t also get some reps, especially if Arizona struggles in its first year under LaFleur.
Regardless of whether they’ll admit it, Love’s selection was made with this in mind. If Arizona is going to insulate itself from quarterback-related disaster, it needs to surround a given signal-caller with talented playmakers.
McBride, Harrison, Love and receiver Michael Wilson form a respectable quartet of playmakers. If Love fills a Robinson-like role, expect him to emerge as the most important of the four.
“As far as numbers, nothing’s ever easy,” Love said. “The way I think of it now is I’m going to have to earn every yard that I get, every touchdown I get. In college, both years I started, I scored 20-plus touchdowns per year. I haven’t seen what that looks like in the NFL. I think a lot of guys probably don’t score that many touchdowns, but that’s the standard that I’ve set for myself. Hopefully I can live up to that standard through hard work and dedication and discipline, but as far as the numbers I try to not to think about them or I try not to set specific numbers. I’m not making it too personal.
“Like I said, everything’s about the team. If you make sure you’re doing your part on the team, those things will come, and the rewards will come and the accolades will come and the All-Pros will come. All that stuff will come as long as you are keeping everything team-oriented and you’re playing for your guys.”
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