With Kenneth Walker III gone and Zach Charbonnet sidelined, first-round rookie Jadarian Price enters training camp positioned to seize the workhorse role for the defending champions.
The Seattle Seahawks' backfield is going to look quite different in training camp than it did this time last year.
Ahead of Seattle's Super Bowl-winning 2025 campaign, Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet were again trusted as the Seahawks' dynamic running back tandem — resulting in the franchise's second-ever Lombardi Trophy.
Less than six months after a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots at Levi's Stadium ... Walker, after winning Super Bowl MVP, is now receiving handoffs from Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City and Charbonnet is on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
That leaves first-round rookie Jadarian Price as the lead back in Seattle's offense for now, and since Charbonnet will likely be sidelined into the 2026 regular season, the Notre Dame product could emerge as the Seahawks' "bell cow."
Price's potential development into the Seahawks' every-down back could provide first-year play caller Brian Fleury with an additional dynamic option.
Recent history suggests that rookies trusted as bell cows tend to make a major impact regardless of their draft positioning.
Since 2020, 13 rookie running backs have crossed the 200-carry threshold: Jonathan Taylor (2020), James Robinson (2020), Najee Harris (2021), Javonte Williams (2021), Elijah Mitchell (2021), Kenneth Walker III (2022), Tyler Allgeier (2022), Dameon Pierce (2022), Brian Robinson Jr. (2022), Bijan Robinson (2023), Bucky Irving (2024), Ashton Jeanty (2025) and Quinshon Judkins (2025).
Five of the 13 went on to make the playoffs ... but of the eight that missed, not one had qualified the year prior.
The foundation built around Price is vastly different than some of the names on that list, given the Seahawks just won the Super Bowl.
Now that Charbonnet's torn ACL is expected to sideline him into the regular season, it's fair to wonder if Price could now be in line to cross the 200-carry mark himself.
While it happened under former head coach Pete Carroll, Seattle has shown willingness to entrust a rookie with the bulk of the running back duties, evidenced by Walker's place on the list above.
We'll have to wait for training camp to officially begin to see how Price adjusts to facing an NFL defense — perhaps the best in the league, at that — before crowning him the backfield's newest workhorse.
But if he flashes the way he did with the Fighting Irish, the Seahawks could comfortably rely on him as a bell cow rusher following Walker's departure while Charbonnet's completes his recovery.
