Jadarian Price 2026 Season Preview — what we know, and what nobody does | Muffed

Jadarian Price costs pick sixty in drafts right now — the twenty-sixth running back — and the entire case is a bet on a backfield that got emptied out in one offseason.

The knowns: Seattle took him thirty-second overall — their first first-round back since Rashaad Penny in twenty-eighteen, per NFL.com — off a Notre Dame career built on speed and special teams: first-team All-America as a kick returner, per his Notre Dame bio. The team's combine coverage clocked him at four-five-oh.

[[SITUATION]]

The situation is the whole story. Kenneth Walker left for Kansas City in March — that's two hundred twenty-one carries and a thousand and twenty-seven rushing yards out the door, and Zach Charbonnet, who punched in twelve rushing touchdowns last season, tore an ACL in the January playoff run. A physically-unable-list start is realistic, per Heavy. New coordinator Brian Fleury comes from the same wide-zone family, per the team's announcement, and through spring the veteran George Holani was usually first up, with Price splitting the top reps, per ESPN. NBC Sports reported in June he is not expected to open as a high-volume starter.

[pause] The honest stance: nobody — not the beat writers, not the graders, not us — can tell you what a rookie produces before he plays. The market is paying pick sixty on hope and a depth chart. We grade results, and there are none yet. October will tell us which price was right.

September watch: who takes the first offensive series, him or Holani — and Charbonnet's designation at camp, which defines the room. [[CLOSE]] He's one of your guys? This show covers your whole roster — every player, every week, all season.