The Seattle Seahawks used the last pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to select Jadarian Price. With first-round draft capital, expectations are pretty high for Price in his first season. He joins a great offense with a void at running back. He seems like a solid click in fantasy football drafts, but is it really that simple?
Should You Draft Seahawks RB Jadarian Price in Fantasy Football?
Let’s start with Price the player. The most predictive indicator of NFL success is college production. That’s no secret or surprise. The best NFL players are the best college players. Price was nowhere close to a great college player.
Price enters the NFL with fewer than 300 career collegiate touches. He didn’t have a single game with more than 15 touches in his final season at Notre Dame.
Now, to be fair, Price was quite efficient when he did get the ball. He averaged 6.0 yards per carry and showed explosiveness with the ball in his hands. Of course, he was also facing defenders who were worn down by Jeremiyah Love.
Price also offers nothing in the passing game. In 40 college games, he caught a total of 15 passes. That’s not a capable pass catcher who wasn’t used as a receiver; that’s the profile of a pure two-down grinder. He has the worst production profile of a Round 1 running back in the history of the NFL Draft.
I would say there’s no sugarcoating Price’s lack of production…but there is. He played behind the No. 3 overall pick. Of course, Price wasn’t going to see volume with a stud like Love in front of him. That makes it difficult to truly evaluate Price’s lack of production because there is a valid excuse.
Take the following information with the appropriate grain of salt that comes with small sample sizes. Also acknowledge that most things football-related are small sample sizes because the NFL has the shortest season of any major sport. It is what it is. Here goes.
Since 2006, there have been 12 running backs drafted in the final quarter of the first round of the NFL Draft (picks 25-32).
- Hits: Mark Ingram, Doug Martin, DeAngelo Williams, Travis Etienne
- Misses: Sony Michel, Donald Brown, Rashaad Penny, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Beanie Wells, David Wilson, Joseph Addai, Jahvid Best (although that was more injury-related)
Second-round running backs have been more successful overall than backs that go late in the first round. It’s an area of the draft that doesn’t produce great running back talent. Additionally, the Seahawks themselves took one of the misses eight years ago.
One argument I’ve seen made in favor of Price is that Seattle did not use a first-round pick on him to not play him. Yes, it’s a different coaching staff. But this very same team literally did exactly that in 2018 with Penny.
READ MORE: 2026 Controversial Fantasy Football Running Back Depth Charts: Who To Draft In these Confusing Rooms
As a rookie, Penny played 14 games and earned just 97 total opportunities. Why couldn’t Penny get on the field? Was there some superstar blocking him? No. There was former seventh-round pick Chris Carson.
It seems crazy that George Holani or Emanuel Wilson would be any sort of impediment to Price’s workload, but there is precedent. Based on the history of running backs in this area of the draft and Seattle’s own handling of their backfields, we should not assume Price will be handed anything.
Price’s Redraft Fantasy Football Value
The typical rookie arc is starting out slower before backloading their production. It’s very common for a rookie’s best fantasy outings to be in the second half of the season. With Price, there are serious concerns on both ends of his rookie season.
To start the season, we’ve already seen multiple reports of Holani running with the ones and how much the team likes him. It looks like Holani will serve as the primary passing-down back. We can safely say Price won’t be in that role. That means to start the season, Price’s workload may resemble that of a typical rookie being eased in.
Then, by the time Price might be fully hitting his stride, Seattle may get Zach Charbonnet back…and they love Charbonnet. He was very effective as the passing down and short yardage back last season. Everyone loves Kenneth Walker this year. Yet, he couldn’t get on the field for more than a 51.3% opportunity share because of Charbonnet.
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Obviously, Charbonnet will not be 100% this season. But given his running style, he can remain effective even as he ramps up in his return from his torn ACL. At worst, even if Charbonnet doesn’t get enough work to have standalone fantasy value, he will be a problem for Price.
Seattle just won the Super Bowl. They have a great offense and are a run-first team. Price will have his moments. However, his upside may very well be capped if he’s a two-down back who doesn’t catch passes and loses goal-line work around midseason to a returning Charbonnet.
With all that said, Jadarian’s “price” is quite reasonable at RB26. The fantasy community is absolutely baking Charbonnet’s return into Price’s cost. The rookie would likely be a top 20 back by ADP otherwise. Thus, due to cost, I do not hate the click on Price. But I am down on him overall as a talent due to the lack of production. Ultimately, I am a data guy and the historical data is not kind to running backs who don’t produce in college, regardless of the reason. Thus, I am fading Price in redraft this season.
Price’s Dynasty Fantasy Football Value
Dynasty is a very different story. Price is a 23-year-old rookie with his entire career in front of him. He can struggle to break free of Charbonnet and Holani as a rookie before settling into the clear RB1 role in 2027.
This is the final year of Charbonnet’s contract. He absolutely deserves to be a lead back somewhere. If Seattle doesn’t commit to him and extend him, he will likely leave. Seattle will probably not spend a Day 2 pick on a running back next year, paving the way for Price to be the lead runner and, most importantly, goal-line back. The upside for Price is much higher beginning in 2027.
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I still have concerns, though, which is why Price is only RB24 in our consensus dynasty rankings. Typically, rookies would be higher even if the redraft outlook isn’t sunshine and rainbows.
I see more potential in dynasty. However, I just don’t believe in the player that much.
Given the overall quality, or lack thereof, of this rookie class, Price appears a lot better by comparison. This may be a rare instance where selling him before or during his rookie season is the best way to handle the young running back.
