The Seattle Seahawks used their first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to strengthen their backfield, selecting former Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jadarian Price at No. 32 on April 23.
The move came after Kenneth Walker III departed in free agency to join the Kansas City Chiefs, while Zach Charbonnet continues recovering from the torn ACL he suffered during Seattle’s playoff run in January.
With uncertainty at the position, the Seahawks made running back a priority and addressed it immediately with their first selection. During an April 30 appearance on Seattle Sports, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman let Seahawks fans know what they are getting in Price.
“[Price is] a complete running back, and what I love about him is his ability to make explosive plays,” Freeman said. “His ability to get east and west and then vertical is as fast as anybody I’ve ever seen.
“He can truly outrun a defense horizontally and then get vertical at the drop of a dime, and then he brings so much special teams value. He’s had multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns, and at any moment, he’s a home run threat. That’s in multiple phases of the game.
The other thing he’s doing is improving out of the backfield, catching the football. He’s becoming a guy you can depend on to throw the ball to out of the backfield. He’s getting better at pass protection. I still think he has a ceiling that’s higher than what he’s even hit yet, and his best is yet to come.”
Jadarian Price Gets Bold Prediction for 2026 NFL Season
Now that Price is in the fold, ESPN’s Brady Henderson shared that he sees the Seahawks giving Price an important role right out of the gate.
“I believe them when they say that they’re high on what they’ve got, or what they had there before Price and [George] Holani,” Henderson said during an April 24 appearance on Seattle Sports. “They really feel like he can be a No. 2, and they’re obviously excited about Emanuel Wilson, the guy they signed in free agency.
“But they also signed him to a very inexpensive one-year contract. Even if you feel good about both of those guys as kind of the No. 2, you still need a No. 1. You need somebody to fill that co-No. 1 role, that role that Walker filled last season.
“This will be something of a jump for Price, but it’s not like he’s going from a backup to a bell cow. They’re not going to ask him to carry the ball 25-plus times a game, but I think they’re going to ask him to kind of slide into that Ken Walker III role and be that co-No. 1 guy.”
Seahawks GM Explains Reason for Drafting Jadarian Price
Last season at Notre Dame, Price earned a 78.6 overall PFF grade. Moreover, his PFF rushing grade of 79.9 ranked 157th among 406 qualified running backs. He carried the ball 113 times for 674 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Price averaged 6.0 yards per attempt on the ground.
Price forced 32 missed tackles as a runner and averaged 3.9 yards after contact per attempt. As a receiver, he caught six passes on seven targets for 87 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
After making the Price pick, Seahawks general manager John Schneider spoke with the media and shared his thoughts on the player and why the decision made sense for the team.
“Great player, great person,” Schneider said on April 23. “We thought we had some opportunities for a minute. It fell apart. There’s a lot of trading going on there right ahead of us. But he kind of stood alone. Great player.
“The person’s outstanding, the competitor. He’s a Seahawk. It’s really cool. And we were actually concerned that people were going to come ahead of us because it felt like it was just so out there in terms of mock drafts and what have you.”
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