Seattle Seahawks

Seattle used their first pick of the 2026 draft on a running back at thirty-two — and then spent four of their next seven picks on the secondary. Eight picks, no top-thirty-one selection, a Day-One thumper out of Notre Dame, and a cornerback room about to get crowded. Here's what the data says about the Jadarian Price bet, why John Schneider jumped the line for a fifth-round guard, and the late-round corner pile that has Mike Macdonald grinning.

Seattle's 2025 rushing offense finished at minus twenty-four point one in total expected points added and minus zero point zero five per carry. They needed juice — and at thirty-two, they spent their top pick on it. Jadarian Price, Notre Dame, twenty-two years old: 113 carries for 674 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns, plus 6 catches for 87 yards and 2 scores. His predicted points added — the college equivalent of NFL expected points added — landed at plus zero point two one per play and plus twenty-three point four seven on the season. The athletic profile backs it: a Relative Athletic Score of eight point three three, a 0-to-10 grade comparing combine and pro-day testing to every running back since 1987. Top fifteen percent at the position.

The back end of the defense is where this class really lives. Seattle's 2025 pass defense already allowed minus zero point one expected points per play and just twenty passing touchdowns over seventeen games — they weren't broken back there, they're stacking it anyway. At sixty-four, Schneider grabbed TCU safety Bud Clark: 56 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and a half, 7 pass breakups, and a Relative Athletic Score of nine point one nine — top eight percent of safeties ever tested. At ninety-nine, Arkansas corner Julian Neal: 55 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 10 pass breakups (tied for fifth in the SEC), and a nine point two eight athletic score — top seven percent of corners. Two Day-Two defensive backs, both north of nine on the athletic chart.

Then come the seventh-round corners — and this is where Macdonald lit up. He said straight-out you can never have too many corners, and he doesn't remember being on a roster with this many drafted at the position. Pick two-thirty-six: Toledo's Andre Fuller — 49 tackles, two and a half for loss, 10 pass breakups (second in the MAC), and a Relative Athletic Score of nine point zero five. Schneider called him a really good football player with versatility and special-teams value, and noted a great visit. Pick two-fifty-five: Arizona's Michael Dansby — 19 tackles, 10 pass breakups. Schneider's scouting summary was three words: competitive, quick, sticky. He admitted some fear-of-missing-out energy with so many Arizona DBs flying off the board, and noted Dansby self-reported a forty in the four-twos. Swaggy was the word Schneider used. Out loud. Twice.

One pick into the run defense room — and it wasn't fixing a leak. Seattle's 2025 run defense allowed minus zero point one five expected points per carry and only 9 rushing touchdowns all year. At two-forty-two, the Seahawks took Minnesota defensive tackle Deven Eastern: 38 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, two and a half sacks, and a Relative Athletic Score of six point nine five — middling by this class's standards. Schneider framed him as a gap player who can get up and down the line with pass-rush upside, leaning on the analytics staff's note that production-to-physical-profile held up.

The trenches got one swing, and Schneider moved up to take it. Seattle's 2025 offense allowed twenty-seven sacks and sixty quarterback hits over seventeen games — not a crisis, but a room that needed depth and competition. At one-forty-eight, the Seahawks grabbed Iowa guard Beau Stephens, twenty-three years old, with a Relative Athletic Score of seven point seven three — comfortably above average for the position. Schneider was openly surprised Stephens was still available, said the gap was too big and the talent too good to pass on, and confirmed compensatory-pick math justified the move up. Which side does Stephens project to? Schneider's answer was two words: either side.

One more on the offensive side. At one-ninety-nine, the Seahawks took Kansas receiver Emmanuel Henderson Junior: 45 catches for 766 yards (eighth in the Big Twelve) and 5 touchdowns. His predicted points added of plus zero point five eight per play and plus forty point four four on the season is, frankly, the most efficient receiving profile in this entire class — the smashed-the-stat-sheet number. The Relative Athletic Score is more pedestrian at six point three seven. The bet here is production over testing.

Pick of the draft. You can argue Price as the only first-rounder. You can argue Clark as the Day-Two athletic monster. The flag I'd plant is Julian Neal. He's the one defensive back who pairs elite athletic testing with the most translatable college pass-coverage production — ten breakups in the SEC isn't a scheme producing him, it's him producing in coverage. Add 55 tackles of run support, and you've got the multi-front, traits-heavy corner Macdonald keeps describing. Schneider talked about wanting players who wouldn't be in awe of a Super Bowl roster. Neal's profile says he won't be.

The story of Seattle's 2026 offseason is whether you can win the back end of your defense in April and have it show up in November. Four of eight picks went to the secondary. The front seven added one rotational tackle and zero edge rushers — and Macdonald acknowledged the edge room is currently a Jared Ivy, Jamie Sheriff, Connor Ouellette, Jaylen Gaines competition, with more free-agent additions hinted at after the comp-pick window opens. That's the stress test. If the corners and safeties hold up, this class ages into a defensive identity. If the pass rush can't get there, all the coverage in the world won't matter.