Jeremiyah Love — Week 1: A Debut Touchdown, Second in Carries

Scoreless, eight 54 left in the first quarter, second and five at the Chargers five. Jeremiyah Love took it around left end for five yards and the first touchdown of his career, in his debut — he had been cleared from a preseason ankle injury, per Donnie Druin at Arizona Cardinals On SI. The run was worth +1.6 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 5.3 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it, the biggest number on any of his touches. His three carries on the drive were no gain from the 19, three yards to the five, and the score.

The line: 11 carries, 41 yards, one touchdown, two first downs, three of the 11 successful, +0.3 expected points on the carries. The longest was 18 — second and five at the Arizona 39 with 12 35 left in the second quarter, tied seven to seven, around right end and pushed out of bounds at the Chargers 43 — and it was the other carry of his that went for a first down. Six carries before halftime for 32 yards; five after for nine, the last a four-yard gain up the middle with five 39 left in the fourth. He was thrown to four times and caught two, for five and four yards, both before halftime; the two after halftime were both incomplete, and the four targets came out at −1.6 expected points. None of his carries came on third or fourth down.

The split: Tyler Allgeier 17 carries for 61 yards, Love 11 for 41, Jacoby Brissett three for 17, one of those a scramble. James Conner is on injured reserve, per Josh Alper at Pro Football Talk. Arizona ran 14 designed runs before halftime and 16 after, against 21 17 pass plays; Allgeier had 11 of the 16 second-half runs and Love five. Love's four targets were fourth on the team, behind 13 to McBride, eight to Kendrick Bourne and seven to Michael Wilson.

Back in June the preview made no call on Love: the third overall pick, drafted at pick 25 as the thirteenth running back off the board, with every dollar of the price riding on a season that had not happened, and a new head coach in Mike LaFleur who said he wanted a multi-back rotation. The thing it said to watch was the snap share in the first two weeks, because most-of-the-snaps is a different asset than rotation piece. The play-by-play does not carry snaps; it carries carries, and Sunday those went 17 to 11 the other way, with the touchdown on Love's side. One game is one game, and the preview said it would grade results. Arizona is home to the Seahawks on Sunday the twentieth. The number to watch is 11 against 17.

_Data via nflverse._