As we noted in our combine preview<\/a>, we\u2019ve been able to do a good job identifying potential Seahawks targets year-to-year by looking at size and explosive testing.<\/p>\nPrice, Washington Jr and Johnson are all on the potential target list for 2026:<\/p>\n
Jardarian Price \u2014 35 inch vertical, 10-4 broad
Mike Washington Jr \u2014 39 inch vertical, 10-8 broad
Emmett Johnson \u2014 35.5 inch vertical, 10-0 broad<\/p>\n
The Seahawks have typically in the Schneider era selected runners who can break through contact. They\u2019ve also targeted big production.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s data on their recent high picks at the position to explain what I mean:<\/p>\n
Rashaad Penny\u2019s final season at San Diego State<\/p>\n
Yards after contact \u2014 1297
Yards after contact per attempt \u2014 4.47
Rushing touchdowns \u2014 23
Fumbles \u2014 2<\/p>\n
Ken Walker\u2019s final season at Michigan State<\/p>\n
Yards after contact \u2014 1168
Yards after contact per attempt \u2014 4.46
Rushing touchdowns \u2014 18
Fumbles \u2014 1<\/p>\n
Zach Charbonnet\u2019s final season at UCLA<\/p>\n
Yards after contact \u2014 806
Yards after contact per attempt \u2014 4.15
Rushing touchdowns \u2014 14
Fumbles \u2014 1<\/p>\n
The 2026 running back class is not particularly strong when it comes to yards after contact:<\/p>\n
Jeremiyah Love \u2014 896
Kaytron Allen \u2014 792
Emmett Johnson \u2014 741
Mike Washington Jr \u2014 644
Jonah Coleman \u2014 562
Demond Claiborne \u2014 544
Darius Taylor \u2014 534
Adam Randall \u2014 526
Jadarian Price \u2014 443
Nicholas Singleton \u2014 334
Jam Miller \u2014 318<\/p>\n
Now, obviously Price acted as backup to Jeremiyah Love so this impacted his reps and opportunities to produce. Even so, his yards after contact per attempt was still 3.92 \u2014 below Penny, Walker and Charbonnet who all averaged +4. I suppose with more opportunities, he could\u2019ve got that number above four. But if he\u2019d had 43% more carries in 2025 to match Love\u2019s touches, based on the production he had, he only would\u2019ve ended up with 633 yards after contact.<\/p>\n
Of the three runners we\u2019re focusing on, Emmett Johnson had the most yards after contact and also had the best production (12 touchdowns) and fewest fumbles (1). His yards after contact per attempt though was only 2.95. On tape, I\u2019d say he\u2019s the least suited to Seattle\u2019s zone system.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re wondering about pass-protection, Price (55.5), Johnson (42.6) and Washington Jr (28.4) all have grades that are nothing to write home about.<\/p>\n
You might say at this point that they should just wait until later on and roll the dice on one of the day three runners. The problem is, the late third round is too early for Kaytron Allen, Adam Randall, Jonah Coleman and Jam Miller \u2014 yet they\u2019re unlikely to last until the sixth. You could theoretically move around and try to add picks but that might not be possible in a thinner draft, just as we saw in 2021 when the Seahawks had only three selections and didn\u2019t add to their total.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a dilemma for the Seahawks. The running back options could run out very quickly if they don\u2019t strike early. They\u2019re not going to force a running back pick early for the sake of it. If they do like Price (or Washington Jr\/Johnson for that matter) they might be really tempted to address this position quickly.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d also add that all three players fit the personality type the Seahawks look for. They are mature individuals. I think they\u2019ll particularly like that Price stuck it out at Notre Dame to help his team, rather than transfer for a greater role somewhere else \u2014 probably for good money too.<\/p>\n
Smart\/tough\/reliable is something we need to be aware of with potential targets. On the reliable side of things, it is worth noting that both Price and Washington Jr fumbled three times in 2025. Johnson only fumbled once. They would need to decide if this is misfortune, technique that is fixable or a killer problem you\u2019ll struggle to solve. You need to be able to trust your back to hold onto the ball.<\/p>\n
Cornerback<\/p>\n
This is the position with the most overall talent available in the class alongside receiver. There are likely to be appealing options at #32, #64 and #96 \u2014 offering flexibility for the Seahawks as they try to address different areas of the team.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that in recent years cornerbacks have not been grabbed off the board. Travis Hunter was a unique player a year ago as he played both receiver and cornerback. Jahdae Barron was a hybrid safety\/corner. The first true cornerback taken was Maxwell Hairston at #30.<\/p>\n
The year prior, Quinyon Mitchell was the first cornerback drafted with the 22nd pick. In 2023, Christian Gonzalez was the first cornerback taken after Devon Witherspoon and he surprisingly lasted to #17. In 2022 Sauce Gardner was taken fourth overall but there wasn\u2019t another cornerback selected until #21 (Trent McDuffie). Finally, in 2021, there was a lot of expectation that Patrick Surtain would be a top-five pick. He lasted to #9 and was actually the second cornerback taken after Jaycee Horn at #8. After this pair, Greg Newsome was the next off the board at #26.<\/p>\n
On top of this, don\u2019t be surprised if a run on receivers happens in round one \u2014 pushing other positions down. The cost of an above-average receiver on the open market these days is eye-watering, especially compared to other positions. There are also multiple teams in need of receiver help. It won\u2019t be a surprise if as many as seven receivers are taken in the first frame.<\/p>\n
The point I\u2019m making here is we do see cornerbacks stick on the board. It won\u2019t be a surprise if some well known names are still there in the 20\u2019s. As a consequence, a really good cornerback could slip through the cracks to #32. If that happens, I think you have to capitalise and not look a gift-horse in the mouth.<\/p>\n
Assuming the top cornerbacks are gone \u2014 and many see the main three as Mansoor Delane, Avieon Terrell and Jermod McCoy \u2014 you will then be left with the next crop which should include Colton Hood, Chris Johnson and Brandon Cisse.<\/p>\n
I think all present good options. It\u2019s just whether you are prepared to wait until #64 or #96 and capitalise on the depth available.<\/p>\n
For example, there is legit starting potential with Hezekiah Masses, Chandler Rivers, Keith Abney, Daylen Everette, Julian Neal, Devin Moore and Malik Muhammad. I\u2019m not as convinced by Davison Igbinosun but others are. There are other names I could mention.<\/p>\n
I also like Keionte Scott and Jadon Canady but both seem likely to stick in the slot or make a switch to safety like Coby Bryant. I think D\u2019Angelo Ponds might face a similar fate at his size.<\/p>\n
This is a lot of cornerbacks. You are not going to miss out. So ultimately you\u2019ve got a call to make. Is a Chris Johnson or Brandon Cisse so good at #32 that you just feel you need to take them? Or do you address another position and let the depth come to you?<\/p>\n
Either is fine by me. But it\u2019s worth noting that if, for example, Johnson and Cisse are graded similarly to Price and some of the pass rushers \u2014 and then they look at their board and see cornerbacks graded on day two who are way ahead of their running back and pass rusher alternatives, that might shape their thinking.<\/p>\n
The Seahawks appear very prepared to take a cornerback early. They used the #5 overall pick on Devon Witherspoon. A year later, the belief is that if Byron Murphy was off the board, they would\u2019ve considered Quinyon Mitchell instead.<\/p>\n
Some people really like Chris Johnson. He is Brian Baldinger\u2019s top rated cornerback, for example. Steve Muench, on Todd McShay\u2019s draft show, has been praising him for months. Others are more sceptical. The feeling was there might be questions about his long speed but he ran a 4.40 at the combine.<\/p>\n
Both Johnson and Hood feel like very solid players who could compete quickly at a reasonable level (or at least pick things up quickly). Cisse has tremendous upside but needs major work on how he processes.<\/p>\n
All of these options make sense. It\u2019s just hard to know that there\u2019s so much depth at this position and other players, who will be available later, are also very intriguing. I think you could even stretch into day three for options. Take former Husky, UNC transfer corner Thaddeus Dixon. I really enjoyed watching his tape and Senior Bowl performance. He could be a player you plug in and develop. there\u2019s a lot of talent here. I\u2019m just not sure he falls into the \u2018smart, tough, reliable\u2019 category given the number of speeding citations he had in 2025 alone (eight).<\/p>\n
If the draft is like a puzzle, the cornerback piece can wait until later \u2014 unless you become so convinced one of this group is a must-take at #32. It\u2019s a distinct possibility that in the coming weeks, they\u2019ll end up feeling that way about at least one cornerback.<\/p>\n
Pass rusher<\/p>\n
I really think the main thing the Seahawks lack is speed off the edge. They spent most of the season talking about finding quick wins. The hope was that Boye Mafe would provide those as a situational rusher but it never really happened.<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t need another big, physical rusher. They need electricity \u2014 someone who can complement the players already on the roster and provide the production Mafe could not offer.<\/p>\n
There weren\u2019t many rushers at the combine who showed off genuine suddenness, which I\u2019d define by running a 10-yard split in the 1.5\u2019s. Cashius Howell and Malachi Lawrence were the only two to achieve this other than top-five pick Arvell Reese.<\/p>\n
Howell could be an option for them. His personality is a fit. He is highly focused, driven and plays with great intensity. You do see plenty of quickness, dip and bend on tape. His arms are sub-31 inches though and it shows. He often rushes like an armless man, not engaging and just trying to dip around the tackle without any contact.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re not going to task him with setting an edge or playing on early downs. His role will be to get after the quarterback on 2nd and 3rd down. You draft him to get you off the field against Matthew Stafford.<\/p>\n
I can easily imagine him being a productive player who can\u2019t nail down a complete role, thus he might bounce around the league as a hired sack-specialist like Yannick Ngakoue. I think that would be OK for the Seahawks. This is a draft class full of probable one-contract types. This isn\u2019t the year to expect you\u2019re going to nail 8-10 year core additions. Maxing out value on a four or five year basis is fine.<\/p>\n
Lawrence is an intriguing player. I know his max GPS speed during the season was faster than the other big names in this draft. He\u2019s quick, long and explosive. There is some stiffness to his change of direction though that you see when he tries to bend the arc. It leads to him losing balance and when that happens, the rep\u2019s over. I think you would struggle to justify taking him at #32 but he\u2019ll likely be gone by #64. He is quick, which is what they need.<\/p>\n
I am intrigued by pass rush win percentages. It seemed to be a selling point a year ago with Rylie Mills and Jared Ivey. Mills\u2019 14.3% was third among defensive tackles behind only Derrick Harmon and Omarr Norman-Lott. He was ahead of Mason Graham, TJ Sanders and Walter Nolan. Ivey\u2019s 16.8% topped all inside\/out rushers apart from Aeneas Peebles.<\/p>\n
Byron Murphy\u2019s win percentage of 19.6% was tops among available defensive tackles the year prior.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a slight contrast when you look at Boye Mafe and Derick Hall. Mafe\u2019s win-rate was only 15.8%. However, it\u2019s believed the Seahawks circled Mafe and Arnold Ebiketie with their pick at the top of round two. Ebiketie\u2019s win percentage was 22% and among the best in the class.<\/p>\n
Hall\u2019s win percentage was even weaker than Mafe\u2019s at 14%. I think the thing to remember though is how physically ideal both players were. They had outstanding length, testing results in terms of speed, agility and explosive traits. The Seahawks likely felt both had incredible upside. There are very few players like that in the 2026 draft where you might be willing to overlook a lack of pure production to gamble on traits.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the win-percentages for this class:<\/p>\n
Nadame Tucker \u2014 28.4
Rueben Bain Jr \u2014 23.5
Romello Height \u2014 21.8
David Bailey \u2014 21.6
Joshua Josephs \u2014 21.2
Akheem Mesidor \u2014 20.8
R Mason Thomas \u2014 20.3
Cashius Howell \u2014 19.9
Derrick Moore \u2014 19.8
Malachi Lawrence \u2014 19.2
Keyton Crawford \u2014 18.3
Zion Young \u2014 17.4
Max Llewellyn \u2014 17.2
Mason Reiger \u2014 15.9
Dani Dennis-Sutton \u2014 15.8
Logan Fano \u2014 15.6
TJ Parker \u2014 15.5
Gabe Jacas \u2014 15.2
Caden Curry \u2014 13.6
Jaishawn Barham \u2014 13.1
Anthony Lucas \u2014 12.4
Keldric Faulk \u2014 11.6
LT Overton 8.8%<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t have the ideal traits, there\u2019s still a lot of very productive players here. For example, let\u2019s say you don\u2019t want to take Howell at\u00a0#32, or he isn\u2019t available. Romello Height could be a fantastic alternative at #63 with his 21.8% win percentage. Joshua Josephs, R Mason Thomas and Derrick Moore also show well in this category.<\/p>\n
Nadame Tucker excels at the top of the list but played at a lower level of college football for Western Michigan. He could be a possibility at #96.<\/p>\n
It would be good to get some testing results for Gabe Jacas, another potential option at #64. He is preparing to do a personal workout after injury kept him out of the combine and Illinois\u2019 pro-day. It would also be good to see the results for Tennessee\u2019s Joseph. Dani Dennis-Sutton\u2019s testing performance was interesting enough to be a consideration at #64 too. Jaishawn Barham, as a convert from linebacker, could be a development type.<\/p>\n
Akheem Mesidor has great production and could be an option at #32 but his age (25) and injury history could be off-putting (surgery on both feet). He hasn\u2019t tested pre-draft and has jumped between being bigger at West Virginia and lighter at Miami. If you\u2019re looking at one-contract types, as long as you\u2019re comfortable with the medicals, you might consider him. I think you need at least some testing data though. The age, injury history, lack of length and limited physical information could see him last to day two.<\/p>\n
Zion Young to me is a big question mark. His GPS testing for speed at the Senior Bowl was slower than LJ Collier\u2019s. He undoubtedly plays with a high level of power and intensity but I find his personality to be odd in multiple interviews. Getting arrested for DWI and speeding right before draft season began also doesn\u2019t speak to \u2018smart, tough, reliable\u2019 either.<\/p>\n
Clearly they have options. This might be the position though that they\u2019re most inclined to show discipline. If the likes of Von Miller are still available by draft day, you can try to sign them for a year of specialist rushing (just as they intended 12 months ago with Miller) without losing a comp pick.<\/p>\n
Wildcard options<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think the Seahawks see a desperate need to add competition at right guard, yet they\u2019re probably open-minded about it. Anthony Bradford\u2019s tape, clearly, is up-and-down. He is out of contract in a year. He isn\u2019t an ideal scheme fit at his size either.<\/p>\n
There are some intriguing offensive linemen in this draft and not just at guard. Remember, Grey Zabel played left tackle for North Dakota State and moved inside for the Seahawks. Could they move someone like Blake Miller inside from right tackle? Or Gennings Dunker? Quite possibly. They might also like the cut of Keylan Rutledge\u2019s jib enough to take him in round two.<\/p>\n
They have internal options too if they want to open up the competition at right guard. I wouldn\u2019t completely rule out an O-line pick in the first three rounds.<\/p>\n
Another position could be the spot vacated by Coby Bryant. We all assume it\u2019s Ty Okada\u2019s gig now \u2014 and that could easily be the case. Yet there are some very intriguing options in this draft, the best arguably being Arizona\u2019s excellent Treydan Stukes (who, as it happens, would fit Seattle\u2019s roster personality perfectly). Zakee Wheatley and Bud Clark are also interesting, while cornerbacks like Keionte Scott, Chandler Rivers, Jadon Canady and D\u2019Angelo Ponds could also convert to safety just as Bryant did.<\/p>\n
Final thoughts<\/p>\n
I still have a lot of work to do on the draft, including hopefully speaking to people in the next couple of weeks who will challenge and develop some of my thoughts. I do think there\u2019s a somewhat realistic prospect though that the following is true:<\/p>\n
\u2014 They will seek to fill the holes at running back, cornerback and EDGE<\/p>\n
\u2014 The draft being thicker at cornerback and EDGE could mean they end up prioritising running back, if they like a player such as Jadarian Price enough to take early<\/p>\n
\u2014 They might feel less pressure to draft a situational replacement for Boye Mafe, given the veteran options that might be available post-draft (eg Von Miller)<\/p>\n
\u2014 There is still the prospect for O-line or safety to come into the mix if the board dictates, especially if they\u2019re comfortable not taking a pass rusher<\/p>\n
I discussed this topic in detail on yesterday\u2019s live stream. If you missed it, check out below \u2014 and don\u2019t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel:<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the Seahawks last won a Super Bowl, they lost Golden Tate and Breno Giacomini in free agency.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-526698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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