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Draft Night
The Price Was Right at 32. Schneider Stayed Put and Got His Running Back.
John Schneider told the whole league he wanted to trade back from 32. Then the first round happened. Five of the final six picks before Seattle were traded, the phone stopped ringing with the right offer, and Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price sat there at the end of the board like a gift nobody else could unwrap. So Schneider unwrapped it himself.
Price never started a game at Notre Dame. Let that marinate. He tore his Achilles as a freshman, spent three years playing behind Heisman finalist Jeremiyah Love, and still generated 1,692 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns on 6.0 yards per carry. He also returned three kickoffs for touchdowns on just 22 career returns. The Seahawks are getting a player with almost no tread on the tires and a habit of reaching the end zone from any part of the field.
3 KR TDs
Jadarian Price returned three kickoffs for touchdowns in just 22 career returns at Notre Dame.
Schneider was honest about the calculus. “He stood alone” on their board, the GM said, and running back “was definitely one of our needs. We just lost a really good runner in Ken Walker.” Macdonald praised Price’s decision to stay at Notre Dame behind Love rather than transfer for touches. “Loyalty, humility, resiliency,” he said. That’s the culture keyword bingo card, and Price filled every square.
This is Seattle’s first running back taken in the first round since Rashaad Penny in 2018. The ghost of that pick will hover for a while. But Price is a different bet: cheaper ($16.2M over four years, per Spotrac), younger, and walking into a backfield where the bar for touches is on the ground. George Holani and Emanuel Wilson are fine, but they’re not the plan. Price is.
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He stood alone on the board. And the guy who never started a college game just became a first-round pick.
Day 2 starts today at 4 PM. Edge rusher and cornerback are still on the board. Cliff Avril will announce the picks. Three slots left. The work isn’t close to done.
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Day 2 Preview
Three Picks Left. Edge and Corner Are Now or Never.
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The corner the Seahawks wanted most is gone. Chris Johnson, the SDSU lockdown corner who skipped his Seattle visit and went to the Raiders instead, ended up going to Miami at 27. Cashius Howell, who told Kay Adams he wanted to be a Seahawk, went undrafted in Round 1. Keldric Faulk landed in Tennessee at 31. The board shifted, and now Schneider has to find his edge and his corner from whatever talent remains at 64 and 96.
Cliff Avril will announce both picks from the stage in Pittsburgh. Expect the Seahawks to address the defense today. Three picks, two glaring holes, and a sixth-rounder on Saturday. The margin is razor-thin.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Sam Darnold posted on Instagram welcoming Jadarian Price: “Yessir!! Welcome to the squad!” The Super Bowl-winning QB and the first-round running back are already connected. That’s either great chemistry or a very good social media team. Heavy
No running back drafted this high has ever had fewer career touches than Jadarian Price, per Field Gulls. He never topped 15 carries in a single game at Notre Dame. The Seahawks just bet $16 million on a player whose college workload wouldn’t fill a preseason stat sheet. Field Gulls
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman on Price: “He could’ve been a starter at 99% of other programs.” So could half the guys in my fantasy league. The difference is Price actually got drafted. 247Sports
The Seahawks’ practice squad OL Shane Lemieux announced his retirement via LinkedIn, which is the most 2026 way to end an NFL career. Six seasons, five surgeries. The Yakima native goes out with a ring. Field Gulls
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
The Rams used the 13th overall pick on Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, and multiple reporters described Sean McVay as “muted” and “mad” at the podium afterward. McVay confirmed he called Stafford beforehand and said he’d “keep that between us.” Les Snead, who reportedly has a personal relationship with Simpson’s father, was “noticeably more energetic.” Yahoo Sports’ Charles McDonald gave the pick an F. The Rams just burned their only first-rounder on a QB heir to a 38-year-old MVP while Nacua’s extension remains unsigned and Rob Havenstein’s retired. Succession planning has never looked so joyless.
NINERS
The 49ers came into draft night with the 27th pick and left without making a single selection. They traded down from 27 to 30 with Miami, then flipped 30 to the Jets for 33 and 179. Two trades. Zero players. John Lynch called it “staying focused on their remaining board.” The 49ers had the worst pass rush in the NFL last year, desperately needed an edge rusher, and left Round 1 with extra mid-round picks instead. Kyle Shanahan’s rebuilds have rebuilds now.
CARDINALS
Arizona took Jeremiyah Love third overall. A running back. Third overall. The Cardinals went 3-14, still have Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, and decided the franchise-altering pick should be a halfback. He’s the highest RB drafted since Saquon Barkley in 2018, and Arizona’s run game averaged 93.1 yards per game last season. Love is spectacular, but you can’t run the ball when your line can’t block and your offense has no quarterback. Congratulations on your Lamborghini with no engine.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
The Seahawks have drafted a cornerback in the first round four times in franchise history. Two of those selections became long-term starters in Seattle: Devon Witherspoon (5th overall, 2023) and one other player who was taken 11th overall in 2003 out of Washington State and went on to play 10 seasons for the Seahawks. Who was that player?
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Marcus Trufant. The Washington State cornerback was drafted 11th overall by the Seahawks in 2003 and spent his entire 10-year career in Seattle, recording 21 interceptions and earning a spot on the Seahawks’ Top 50 Players list in 2025.
Day 2 Just Got Spicy
Got opinions on who Schneider should take at 64? Think edge rusher or cornerback? Send your takes, your draft grades, and your hottest complaints to the mailbag. The Rooster reads every single one.
Three picks left. Two needs screaming. One Cliff Avril at the podium. Day 2 starts at four. Be there. — The Rooster