NFL draft's most head-scratching picks: Jeremiyah Love move comes at huge cost

Every NFL draft class has a way of quickly laying waste to long-held expectations. All the rankings, projections and mock drafts that fill out the monthslong pre-draft process tend to quickly fall by the wayside once the picks start coming in. And when this year's first round began on Thursday, April 23, in Pittsburgh, it didn't take long for the pre-draft narratives to fade away as the order took shape.

Still, some moves left teams' decision-makers subject to some justified second-guessing. With the first round now complete , here are the five most questionable picks in the 2026 NFL Draft so far: 1. RB Jeremiyah Love, Arizona Cardinals (No.

3) When word first began trickling out this week that the Cardinals were zeroing in on Love, it seemed like classic pre-draft misdirection. How could a team that lacked any sort of resolution along its front or behind center skip ahead in a roster build and take a top-tier running back? With Arizona also broadcasting its interest in trading back, perhaps the team was simply trying to gin up interest in a deal that would better position the front office to take an offensive tackle later in the order.

No smokescreen here. Now, a team not far along in its reset finds itself in possession of a ball carrier who enters the league as one of the highest-priced players at his position. On its face, that's bad business in an event in which teams typically mine for cost-controlled young talent at premium positions.