Macdonald: Seahawks to feature 2-3 RBs

Price looked the part of a first-round running back, turning his first career carry into a 13-yard gain. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry compared to just 3.6 for George Holani. The bad news is that Holani saw eight carries and was the team’s trusted option in several key situations. Price did not play on a single third or fourth down. He saw just one of the Seahawks’ three short-yardage carries. Price is going to struggle to put up solid fantasy numbers if he can’t earn high-value touches. There’s plenty of time for that to change over the course of his rookie season, but he will be stuck in the RB3 ranks for his Week 2 date with the Cardinals.

This report largely affirms what we already believed to be true. Price can be expected to lead the backfield in carries, although Fowler thinks his workload will fall short of 20 carries per game. Few running backs hit that mark anyway, so that is hardly surprising. A report from The Athletic suggested RB George Holani could be trusted to handle high-value touches on passing downs and is scoring position, which hurts Price’s outlook. If only two running backs are involved, though, Price should provide usable stat lines. If Emanuel Wilson gets involved this could become a fantasy-unfriendly situation.

Destin reasonably wonders, “how much can Seattle feature Price as a pass catcher if he’s not trusted to block on third down?” He also thinks RB Zach Charbonnet (knee) will replace Holani whenever Charbonnet returns. Destin adds that “Price was not drafted as a direct replacement for Walker,” though he expects Price to handle a similar role. Losing high-value touches to Holani and Charbonnet could keep Price stuck in the RB3/FLEX tier, though, in a sense, he controls his own destiny and could force the coaching staff to increase his red zone usage with high-quality play.

Though Price did not play a single preseason snap and has missed time over the past few weeks with muscle soreness, he is widely expected to function as Seattle’s lead back in Week 1 against the Patriots, with Zach Charbonnet (knee) on the PUP list to begin the regular season. Holani, however, should see significant usage in the Seahawks backfield. His “receiving and pass-blocking skills seem perfectly suited for third-down work,” Henderson said. Emanuel Wilson, Henderson added, will be the “power complement to those two” if he’s fully recovered from an undisclosed injury. “Whatever plan Seattle has going into Week 1 will start to change once Charbonnet returns,” Henderson said. “Whenever Charbonnet is all the way back, it’s easy to envision the Seahawks splitting the work in their backfield fairly evenly between him and Price the way they did last season with Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III.” Sam Darnold has called Price a “special player” who excels as a pass catcher. For now it appears he’ll be an early-down option for Seattle’s offense.

After months of Seahawks front office officials and coaches saying Charbonnet could be active for Week 1 against the Patriots, he’ll miss at least the first four games of the regular season as he recovers from his 2025 ACL tear. That leaves rookie RB Jadarian Price as the likely lead back to start the season, with George Holani perhaps functioning as the backfield’s pass-catching option and potential goal line back. Price, who missed time with lower body injuries in August, should be a full go for Week 1. He should be treated as a flex option to start the year.

Price was dealing with some “upper-leg soreness” a few weeks ago, but returned to last week’s joint practice with the Titans in a limited capacity. The rookie first-rounder, however, won’t be on the field when the Seahawks face the Titans on Sunday night, and he’ll also forego the team’s final preseason game against the Chiefs before suiting up for Week 1 when the Seahawks play host to the Patriots. Price has taken first-team reps with the Seahawks in camp and has been working on his pass-catching abilities. While we don’t quite know what to expect for his role early in the season, we would expect him to fall somewhere in the RB2 conversation for fantasy purposes this season.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said after the drills Monday that Price “isn’t fully unleashed for unlimited work, and that his practice participation will ramp up some.” The News Tribune’s Gregg Bell believes Price will be the lead back in Week 1. It sounds like he’s going to be healthy for the opener as things sit right now; we’ll see how things shake out in preseason Week 2 before we go making sweeping declarations.

This comes from The News Tribune’s Gregg Bell, who may be correcting the record on Price’s ailment. Price’s soreness has variously been reported as lower-body soreness, leg soreness, upper-body soreness and now upper-leg soreness. The young man has certainly been sore, and the upper-body report is not like the others. A leg issue is seemingly the most likely answer. Regardless, the Seahawks play their first preseason game tomorrow. Bell previously said it “doesn’t sound like” Price will be active, and today he emphasized that this was just a “light” walkthrough. If Price suits up, we might gain a little insight into the Seahawks’ intended running back rotation. If not, we will have to wait until the following week.

The Seahawks held a walkthrough on Wednesday and Price was on the practice field for the first time in five practices. The News Tribune’s Gregg Bell reports he was walking through with the starting offense. Good news for fantasy managers as Price’s injury looks to still be soreness and nothing more. It is just a walkthrough practice, but fantasy managers shouldn’t expect this soreness management to impact his Week 1 status.

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said “you start putting days and (a) timetable on it, it’s just...a young guy like that, let’s just go attack the heck out of it until he can come back and practice again.” The News Tribune’s Gregg Bell believes it “doesn’t sound like Price is playing” in Seattle’s first preseason game on Saturday. This injury has morphed from “leg soreness” to “upper body soreness.” We don’t have any real concerns about Price’s injury holding him out long-term, but it’s possible the missed reps keep him from a bigger workload when the regular season arrives.