First Round, No. 32 overall: Jadarian Price, RB, Notre Dame
No one but the Seahawks know for sure what Brian Fleury is envisioning for his offense next season, but his time spent in San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan suggests that Seattle will continue a similar run-heavy approach to the one Klint Kubiak used so successfully a year ago.
Seattle ranked third in the NFL with 507 rushing attempts last season. The 49ers ranked 10th with 481 attempts. With Walker gone to Kansas City and Zach Charbonnet recovering from a serious knee injury, reinforcing the running back room feels like the obvious top priority.
Price would seemingly be a hand-in-glove fit for the Seahawks. An instinctive runner with excellent vision, burst and balance, he is a clean schematic in the wide-zone offense Fleury will keep in Seattle, and he may very well prove an upgrade as a pass-catcher, as well. Under Fleury’s watch, Christian McCaffrey led all NFL running backs last season in receptions (102), receiving yards (924) and receiving touchdowns (seven). The Seahawks, by comparison, didn’t get a single touchdown reception from their backs last year.
Price wasn’t asked to catch many passes at Notre Dame – this was one of the many areas in which Notre Dame’s “other” star running back Jeremiyah Love received the bulk of the opportunities, but Price was effective when called upon as a receiver, including as a kick returner.
Playing behind Love limited Price’s statistics, but it also kept him relatively fresh heading to the NFL. I think that makes the 5-foot-11, 203-pounder well-suited to playing as part of a rotation, but also possessing the grit and big play potential to play the role of bell-cow, if needed.
There are other, flashier backs in this class that I think will appeal to Schneider and the Seahawks. From a character and schematic perspective, however, Price feels like the cleanest fit. Selecting him at No. 32 overall would check off the Seahawks’ biggest need on offense and allow Schneider and his scouts a lot of flexibility throughout the rest of the draft.
