2019 NFL Draft: Bryce Love could be a day three steal

Stanford Cardinal running back Bryce Love went from Heisman finalist to one of the most disappointing players in college football.

Stanford Cardinal running back Bryce Love could have left school after his breakout campaign in 2017 and probably been drafted very high.

Instead, he opted to return to school, and that decision cost him millions and potentially even a shot at being ready for the 2019 NFL season opener.

Let’s rewind to 2017 for a moment, where Love was taking over for star running back Christian McCaffrey after spending a year as his primary backup. Love was ready for an expanded role with the Cardinal, and he proved it rather quickly.

He rushed for over 100 yards in all but one game his junior season with Stanford on his way to 2,118 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. Love averaged 8.1 yards per carry (seriously) and earned a trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Love won the Doak Walker Award in 2017, was a first-team All-American, and won just about every other award a running back can win in a single season.

He was on top of the world, and decided to return to Stanford for one more season. He ended up having a very disappointing season statistically, averaging 4.5 yards per carry in an injury-riddled year where he played in just 10 games.

On December 1, Love tore his ACL in his final game for the Cardinal.

That absolutely brutal ending to an already down year has pushed Love’s draft stock to the third day where he can now be a steal for some team.

Regardless of how rough Love’s senior season was, he was probably a second-round talent before the ACL injuries and was still able to post 18 reps on the bench press at the Scouting Combine.

He’s in good spirits, and will undoubtedly get plenty of looks from NFL teams. He’s going to have his medical background closely examined, but this is an explosive running back with a ton of talent. Some team who has extra picks in round 4-6 is going to be very pleased when they draft Love.