The only running backs selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft came out of the same Notre Dame backfield. Well before the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks closed out the first by taking Jadarian Price at No. 32, the star-starved Arizona Cardinals selected the electrifying Jeremiyah Love at No. 3 overall.
Scot McCloughan, former Seattle Seahawks scout and senior personnel executive who was heavily credited with helping the Seahawks build their first Super Bowl team at the start of the Pete
Carroll and John Schneider era, seems to be a big fan of the Seahawks’ decision. While his interview with The Athletic was centered around draft picks made by the San Francisco 49ers, most notably the curious decision to draft Indiana running back Kaelon Black in the third round, McCloughan unleashed a big prediction on the career trajectories of Price and Love.
McCloughan said his two highest-rated runners were the Notre Dame tailbacks, both of whom landed in the NFC West. The Cardinals took Jeremiyah Love with the No. 3 pick. The Seahawks got Jadarian Price at No. 32.
“And you wait and see, bud,” he said. “I’m telling you: Price is going to be a better player than Love. I think he’s Nick Chubb, who we took in Cleveland and who was really, really good until he blew his knee out.””
For what it’s worth, McCloughan had a fifth-round grade on Black, whom he called a “solid backup.”
“He just doesn’t have the ‘it’ factor,” McCloughan said. “Everything’s above average, but nothing is really good. And he split time (in Indiana’s backfield). And that coach (Curt Cignetti) is not going to split time if they’ve got a legit back.”
I guess one of the NFC West storylines for this year and beyond is a tale of how three of the four NFC West teams took running backs in the top 90. Which one will have the biggest NFL success? I think I know the answer Seahawks fans are inclined to say.
