Love, a consensus All-America selection and the Doak Walker Award winner for college football's best running back in 2025, rushed for 2,882 yards and 36 touchdowns in three seasons at Notre Dame – including 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2025. He is generally projected to be selected somewhere in the Top 5 and rarely outside the Top 10.
Brooks called Love "flawless."
"A lot of people would say he's one of the top two, three players in the draft," Brooks said. "He's different because he has a long track record of success, back-to-back years where he has done it. He has a lot of touchdowns where you see him cross the goal line, put the ball in the paint. Big plays, catches out the backfield, things that the modern running back has to do, he does it.
Recent drafts haven't always featured Top 10 running backs in the Top 10, with Love considered talented enough to override a recent NFL trend of devaluing the position on draft day.
"He is up there with all those top guys you talk about – the Christian McCaffreys, the Saquon Barkleys," Brooks said. "He's a difference-maker. In my mind, he's the best player in the draft because he can do anything and everything that you want to see – grind it, get on the perimeter, catch it out the backfield, he can take it the distance.
"He's a home run hitter who also is at every down workforce."
Which means a major difference in Love and the rest of the class.
"The rest of the guys are just role players," Brooks said.
The consensus second back in the draft: Love's Notre Dame teammate, Jadarian Price – a physical back with kickoff return ability.
"I would think about how Josh Jacobs ascended from being a No. 2 in college to a No. 1 back in the pros," Brooks said. "He has those tools, but can he make it happen?"