Buzz Builds for Vikings to Pursue a Specific Player in 2026
After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, Kevin O’Connell finally relented. The Vikings unleashed a balanced attack on Sunday and were rewarded for doing so. High time, folks, high time.
One wonders about the merits of continuing to invest in a specific position: running back. RB1 Aaron Jones is just past his 31st birthday while RB2 Jordan Mason will be 27 before next season begins. Complementing these talented runners — both of whom are moving into their final years under contract in 2026 — with an elite talent makes a pile of sense, especially with J.J. McCarthy needing ground support.
Buzz Builds for Vikings to Select RB Jeremiyah Love
Kick it over to The Athletic for the latest mock.
At No. 10, Nick Baumgardner opts for the talented Notre Dame runner to venture to the Twin Cities: “Maybe if you overwhelm J.J. McCarthy with enough skill talent to feed an actual group of Vikings, Kevin O’Connell’s paint will finally be able to dry here. As with Downs, Love is a top-five player in this class, but we’ll see where he winds up — running back is a tough position to predict in terms of draft value. Regardless, he’s the type of offensive asset who can change a team immediately.”
Lately, the thinking has been that investing top-end draft picks into runners isn’t wise. To my eye, the pendulum has swung too far even as I’ll readily acknowledge the obvious of the NFL being a passing league.
In Mr. Love, the Vikings could be welcoming a talent capable of taking a huge burden off of McCarthy’s shoulders. The simple fact that he’s both an explosive runner and pass catcher makes him ultra appealing. Just how high could the team soar if it had its own version of Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs?
The Fighting Irish were shoved out of the college playoffs, a misguided decision that has set football fans ablaze with concerns about greed impacting more clear-eyed judgment. Quibbles aside, the implication is that Love is now building solely for the draft.
He was central to Notre Dame’s impressive squad. Love carried the ball 199 times in 2025, picking up 1,372 yards while bringing the ball across the goal line 18 times. Ultra impressive stuff; the 6.9 yards-per-carry average is game-breaking talent. Go ahead and add on that he has caught 27 passes for 280 receiving yards (10.4 yards-per-reception average) and 3 touchdowns.
Grafting an elite talent into the offense would be a game changer.
All of the sudden, defenses would find themselves is the tricky spot of needing to double Justin Jefferson while also loading the box to corral a runner capable of breaking loose in a hurry. The push/pull of a great WR1 and RB1 hasn’t yet been a reality for the Vikings under Coach O’Connell.
Add in the presence of Jordan Addison — a still underutilized receiving talent — and defenses are even further hindered in their capacity to shutdown everything.
The 2025 season has been undone for a lot of reasons, but one overlooked explanation has been that the roster hasn’t boasted individually elite seasons. Some players have been very good, but few have been among the NFL’s very best. All of Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, Byron Murphy, Christian Darrisaw, Blake Cashman, T.J. Hockenson, Aaron Jones, and several others have taken steps back (sometimes due to injury).
Seeing the veteran talents get healthy as they prep for a bounce back in 2026 would coincide nicely with a runner who can finally solve O’Connell’s greatest flaw: not running the ball very well.
Next up for the Vikings is a Sunday Night Football game against the Cowboys. Sitting at 5-8, Minnesota is on the fringe of what’s realistic in terms of draft position for the elite Notre Dame running back.
