RENTON, Wash. -- As the Seattle Seahawks were scouting Jadarian Price ahead of the 2026 NFL draft, new running backs coach Thomas Hammock had to remind the team's eventual first-round pick of what happened two years earlier.
Hammock was the head coach at Northern Illinois when, as 28-point road underdogs, the Huskies stunned fifth-ranked Notre Dame early in the 2024 season. With Price carrying only four times while playing behind Jeremiyah Love, the Irish lost 16-14, leaving Hammock in tears during an emotional postgame interview.
While speaking with Price on a videoconference call during the predraft process, Hammock couldn't resist.
"All three times that I've met with Coach, he has mentioned that game," Price said. "He hits me with the, 'Hey, if I was coaching you and you ran the ball a little bit more, maybe y'all would have beat us.'"
Hammock is now coaching Price, and the No. 32 pick will be running the ball more now that he's joining a backfield that lost Kenneth Walker III in free agency and won't have Zach Charbonnet for a good chunk of 2026 as he recovers from knee surgery.
But in projecting where Price will fit into that mix, it's best to view him as the Seahawks' replacement for Walker as opposed to their clear-cut RB1. That's because the defending Super Bowl champions also plan to use free agent addition Emanuel Wilson, as well as George Holani, with Charbonnet expected to return at some point.
Anyone who caught only Walker's playoff surge -- which culminated with his MVP performance in Super Bowl LX -- might have assumed that he was Seattle's RB1 all along. In reality, he and Charbonnet were essentially co-starters until the latter tore his ACL in the Seahawks' divisional-round playoff game. During the regular season, the two played almost the same number of snaps per game, while Walker averaged roughly 15 touches to Charbonnet's 13.
So, though Price will have to adjust to a larger role with Seattle, it's not as though the Seahawks are asking him to go from an RB2 in college to a high-volume starter in the NFL right away.
While playing behind Love -- whom the Arizona Cardinals drafted No. 3 -- Price averaged roughly 18.5 snaps and almost nine touches per game over the past two seasons. He ran for 1,420 yards and 18 touchdowns in that span, with a 6.1-yards-per-carry average that ranked 30th among running backs.
Price also returned three kickoffs for touchdowns in three college seasons. The Seahawks already have a Pro Bowl return man in Rashid Shaheed but are open to also using Price in that role. Either way, his big-play ability indicates he can replicate at least some of Walker's explosiveness despite his good-but-not-great time of 4.49 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
As a pure runner, the Seahawks thought Price's skills compared favorably to those of Love. They believe Price is a strong fit for their run game, which will continue to rely on the outside zone under new coordinator Brian Fleury. Price ran plenty of that at Notre Dame.
"Instant acceleration, vision, cutback-ability, but his ability to work it back, not just completely bouncing all the time, just kind of working it back inside," Seahawks general manager John Schneider said. "And then probably his contact balance."
Price caught only 15 passes over three college seasons. That was partly due to Love's do-it-all skill set, though Price acknowledged it's an area of his game that he has had to work to improve. He had one drop during the Seahawks' two-day rookie minicamp, but otherwise, he looked plenty capable as a pass catcher.
Holani stood out in that capacity as well as in pass protection after Charbonnet's injury elevated him into the RB2 role for the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl. That skill set could make the 2024 undrafted free agent a strong candidate for third-down work. Schneider went out of his way to laud Holani several times after the season, indicative of the organization's confidence that he can be an RB2 after only 25 carries over his first two seasons.
Wilson, meanwhile, is a bigger back (5-foot-10, 226 pounds) who gives the Seahawks a power runner in Charbonnet's absence. The 2023 UDFA got a one-year, $1.59 million deal after three seasons as a backup with the Green Bay Packers.
Charbonnet didn't have surgery until February. The typical time frames for ACL repairs would put him on track to return toward the end of the season, but comments from the Seahawks have seemed to convey a hope that with his work ethic, he can beat the averages.
"I can't give you a timeline right now, but I can tell you he's killing it as we knew he would," coach Mike Macdonald said during the draft. "We've said it: If you're going to bet on anybody, it's Zach Charbonnet. I'm excited for him. He's in great spirits. The guys downstairs are doing a great job with him. With these long-term injuries -- I say it all the time, you've just got to stack these things. You have to be able to get to the next thing and go rip it, and that's what he's doing. I'm excited for Zach."
The Seahawks released Cam Akers after the draft, leaving them with six running backs on their offseason roster: Charbonnet, Price, Holani, Wilson, Kenny McIntosh and Jacardia Wright, a 2025 UDFA who spent most of his rookie season on practice squad injured reserve.
McIntosh, a 2023 seventh-round pick, is a speedy back who has struggled to play in part because of a pair of knee injuries, the latest of which was a torn ACL he suffered during training camp last summer.
"He's coming along," Macdonald said last month. "It's tough to put a timetable to it. He's training his tail off. I think it's one of those deals where, 'Hey, let's just keep hitting those benchmarks until we can evaluate what it's going to look like in the fall.'"
Price might be leading the Seahawks' backfield by that point, but by all indications, they aren't expecting him to carry it.
"He'll get reps with all the groups probably at some point, and we'll go from there," Macdonald said. "We're not just going to stick him right there with the 1s. He's going to have ample opportunity to earn a bunch of carries and a bunch of touches."
