Seahawks 2026 mock draft: Mel Kiper has Seattle taking Jadarian Price

PALO ALTO, CA - NOVEMBER 29: Jadarian Price #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish carries the ball during a college football game against the Stanford Cardinal on November 29, 2025 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California; defending is Darrius Davis #29 of Stanford. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images) | Getty Images

If you’re tired of mock drafts before the NFL Draft, the good news is that we’re only a week away from the real thing. In the meantime, it’s Seattle Seahawks mock draft season and we’ll explore all scenarios possible for the Super Bowl champions.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper may not be the best draft analyst around but he’s certainly the most recognizable. He’s come up with his penultimate two-round mock, which does involve trades but none involving the Seahawks. In previous mocks he had the Seahawks taking a cornerback, whether Colton Hood or Avieon Terrell, but he’s saved cornerback for the second round.

As for what the Seahawks do at No. 32, he’s got them landing the other talented Notre Dame running back, Jadarian Price.

Jadarian Price, RB, Notre Dame

Seattle has to make every pick count, with four total selections (least in the league) and picking at the end of each round. I originally considered projecting Arizona to trade up into this spot simply because the Seahawks would welcome any additional draft capital, but I wasn’t convinced we’d actually get an in-division trade like that involving a quarterback pick. Instead, Seattle stays home and closes out Round 1 with our second running back off the board.

Kenneth Walker III signed in Kansas City, and Zach Charbonnet is working back from a torn ACL. Price might not have been the RB1 at Notre Dame, but he can be one in the NFL. He’s powerful and fast, averaging 6.0 yards per carry over his career and scoring 11 touchdowns last season.

At pick 64, the Seahawks go for second-team All-SEC cornerback Malik Muhammad to address the void left by Riq Woolen’s free agency departure.

Malik Muhammad, CB, Texas

The Seahawks brought back Josh Jobe, but they let Riq Woolen walk in free agency. Muhammed has 4.42 speed and broke up 10 passes in 2024. He could be a rotational player for defensive coordinator Aden Durde.

Barring an all-timer of a smokescreen, the Seahawks clearly have interest in running backs and corners in this draft. They’ve had a ton of reported pre-draft visits at both positions, not even including the NFL Scouting Combine.

We’ll leave Muhammad aside because the main focus will be on taking a running back in the first round. Seattle did this with Rashaad Penny and, injuries or otherwise, it did not work out. Back in the day they famously took Shaun Alexander in round one and it very much worked out, but running back value is completely different in 2026 than in 2000.

This does not figure to be a deep draft class for starting caliber running backs, of which Price is one of those select few. After Mike Washington Jr, Jonah Coleman, and maybe Kaytron Allen, just about everyone else does not figure to have serious RB1 potential. Even if you look at the consensus current top backs in the NFL, only Kyren Williams was picked after the fourth round.

The current Seahawks running back room is mostly undrafted and seventh-round players, along with an injured Zach Charbonnet (second round), Cam Akers (second round), and Velus Jones Jr (third round) making up the rest of the depth chart. Realistically, Akers and Jones probably are not on this team for much longer; Akers hasn’t held down a Jones is only a recent convert to running back and has a terrible fumbling history. George Holani has hardly had any carries that weren’t in garbage time, McIntosh has been promising but has had two serious knee injuries in three years, and Emanuel Wilson has had spot starts but has never been a full-time starter. Having a lot of running backs doesn’t mean you have a lot of running backs who are even roster locks, so I don’t really factor in any of Jones, Akers, or Jacardia Wright unless proven otherwise.

I’m not as bothered if the Seahawks take Price at No. 32 if only because Seattle doesn’t have a shambolic offensive line (which was the failing of the process to pick Penny), and talent is talent. But I also don’t believe Price is so obviously better than Washington or Coleman, in which case I’d rather see the Seahawks invest No. 32 at other positions of need.

In case you’re wondering, Kiper did accurately predict Grey Zabel to the Seahawks in 2025, so maybe Price to Seattle will be that second time a broken clock is correct.