Big Board: Ranking Top Running Back Targets for Seahawks in 2026 NFL Draft

With the deadline come and gone for teams to bring prospects into town for official visits, it’s full steam ahead for the Seattle Seahawks and the rest of the league heading towards the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.

In the aftermath of winning Super Bowl LX MVP honors, Ken Walker III took advantage of his stock never being higher by signing a record-setting free agent contract for a running back with the Chiefs, leaving the Seahawks with major questions in the backfield. Aside from losing the speedy back, Zach Charbonnet underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in February and likely will miss at least the first two months of the 2026 season, meaning the team will have to weather the storm early without their top two rushers from their title run with limited starting experience on the current roster.

Which ball carriers stand out as the best of the best for Seattle to potentially choose from? Less than 10 days away from the draft, here are my final rankings for running backs projected to be drafted in the top 100 picks, including overall rankings in parenthesis:

Final Big Board - Running Backs

1. (3) Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame - While he may not be a “generational” talent, Love sits in the next tier as one of the premier backfield prospects to enter the draft in the past 25 years. A big play waiting to happen every time he touches the ball, his elite explosiveness and acceleration led to 23 runs of 15-plus yards and a 52.9% breakaway rate. Finding the end zone 18 times as a runner, he racked up yardage after contact in bunches, totaling 4.50 yards per carry after contact last season with just a single fumble while also adding three receiving touchdowns as a pass catching presence. He’s as complete of a prospect as you’ll find at the position, and it would be a stunner if he lasts past the first five or six selections.
2. (40) Jadarian Price, Notre Dame - Price didn’t receive the fanfare Love did for the Fighting Irish, but even with only five games where he received 10 or more carries last season, the 210-pound back racked up 674 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging six yards per carry. More than 21% of his carries went for at least 10 yards, while he ranked in the top 20 nationally in breakaway run rate at 45%. He isn’t a hammer who runs through defenders often, but he excels at wiggling his way through traffic and in space and has enough power to regularly slip through arm tackles. While he didn’t get many chances to contribute as a receiver, he averaged nearly 18 yards after the catch per reception and returned two kicks for touchdowns on special teams last season, making him a fringe first round candidate.
3. (66) Emmett Johnson, Nebraska - On the heels of eclipsing 1,400 rushing yards in a breakout junior year for the Cornhuskers, Johnson didn’t test as well as hoped in Indy at the combine and those results coupled with a leaner frame that casts some questions about future durability may have put a cap on his draft ceiling as a mid-second round pick. But he was arguably the Big Ten’s most electric back last season as the engine that ran Nebraska’s offense, providing a blend of suddenness, power, and soft hands with 36 runs of 10-plus yards, 68 missed tackles forced, and 370 receiving yards out of the backfield.
4. (71) Jonah Coleman, Washington - Built with a stocky 5-9, 220-pound frame and running with a low center of gravity catered for plowing through contact, Coleman isn’t the type of back defenders want to see coming at them downhill. In 2024, he finished fourth in the nation among qualified backs averaging 4.34 yards after contact per carry during his standout junior year and rushed for 10-plus yards on 38 carries, ranking in the top 12 in both categories. While he isn’t the most dynamic back in this year’s class and may be more of a pitstop back than home run threat, he rarely fumbles and his reliability as a runner and receiver makes him a starter-caliber talent.
5. (73) Mike Washington Jr., Arkansas - Showcasing his elite speed in a breakout lone season in Fayetteville, Washington ripped off 17 runs of 15-plus yards and posted an impressive 48% breakaway run rate that ranked sixth in the nation among qualified backs for the Razorbacks. North of 225 pounds, he doesn’t always play to that size physicality-wise as a runner, and ball security issues stand out as a major red flag with 12 career fumbles. He will have to show marked improvements on that front as well as in pass protection to become a three-down back in the league, but the tools are in place for him to be a long-term starter with proper development.
6. (95) Roman Hemby, Indiana - Part of an elite platoon with Kaelon Black on the national champions, Hemby surpassed 1,100 rushing yards with a large chunk of that total coming after contact (773) with 37 missed tackles forced, taking on the role of a bludgeoning force at the point of contact. Though lacking in the top speed department and running a bit high at times, he’s a smooth cutter who runs with the necessary decisiveness to thrive in zone schemes and offers underrated skills as a receiver and pass protector, providing ideal three-down value with system flexibility to justify a late third round/early fourth round selection.

Check out our other Top-100 Big Board rankings: Safety | EDGE | Guard | Cornerback