How does everybody feel about Jadarian Price in the first round? The fact that it feels like the Seattle Seahawks made good use of their other picks to address needs make me like it even more than if it were in a vacuum.
Let’s take a look at all of the running backs that the Seattle Seahawks have taken in the first three rounds of the NFL draft this century, and the circumstances surrounding each.
It’s a great line of demarcation, with 25 years worth of data. There’s also the fact that 2000 is the year that eventual
Seahawks GM, John Schneider first worked (as Director of Player Personnel) under then VP of Football ops, Ted Thompson.
Drumroll, please.
First Round
- Jadarian Price (2026, Pick 32)
- Rashaad Penny (2018, Pick 27)
- Shaun Alexander (2000, Pick 19)
Rashaad Penny has the all-time highest yards per carry (YPC) average in NFL history (5.61) among all backs with at least 300 attempts. Bo Jackson is second, with a 5.4 YPC. Read that again. Problem was, Penny was only able to participate in 45 games over 6 seasons in Seattle.
Penny rushed for more than 420 yards in a season just once, ripping up 749 yards at an outrageous 6.3 YPC. That year was his final year under contract, and he gained over 135 on the ground in four of his last five games. The final two contests he went for 170 and then 190. Penny would muster up just under 400 rushing yards on a 1-year deal the next season in Seattle, gain 33 yards while buried in Philadelphia, then retired the next season.
Rashaad was drafted directly after a disastrous 9-game stint from Eddie Lacy and the last gasp year from Thomas Rawls. He was joined by waiver claim, Mike Davis, and seventh-rounder, Chris Carson (one of my all-time favorites). Penny was a polarizing pick, as most had both Sony Michel (wen to New England) and Nick Chubb (Cleveland) as higher prospects.
Shaun Alexander is the Seahawks’ only ever MVP; that award earned during a season in which he set a record for touchdowns scored in a season by a non-QB (a since surpassed mark of 28). He averaged ~1,500 rushing yards and 19 TDs per season over a five-year span. Alexander was drafted despite the presence of Ricky Watters, 5x Pro Bowler and a guy who would earn the last of a six-year streak of 1,100+ yards in a row that year.
There was no social media to enable a social media outcry back in those days, but Mel Kiper didn’t sound like he hated the pick. Would love to hear if anyone remembers much from this moment?
Second Round
- Zach Charbonnet (2023, Pick 52)
- Kenneth Walker III (2022, Pick 41)
- Christine Michael (2013, Pick 62)
- Maurice Morris (2002, Pick 49)
Zach Charbonnet is a current Seattle running back who is still writing his story. Is this a lame duck year that will be spent mostly in injury rehab? Is there any chance that he gets a second contract from the Seahawks, or will they be on to the next? He is averaging 4.3 YPC, compared to battery mate, K9’s 4.6 (in a larger sample size).
Charbonnet entered the picture after Penny and Travis Homer left. Along with Walker, Charbo was in backfield collaboration with DeeLay Dallas. The Seahawks were ridiculed, after taking a running back in the second round in back-to-back drafts.
Kenneth Walker III impressed from the start with 1k rushing yards in his rookie year. Injuries and ineffectiveness (compared to his first campaign) struck in his second and third seasons, but we all know that he also finished strong. Walker’s final six games of 2025’s championship run includes 771 scrimmage yards, 5.2 YPC (which would’ve ranked second to only De’Von Achane’s 5.7 if it had held up all year) and 5 TD’s. He put up 161 combined yards to bank Super Bowl MVP.
Walker was picked the offseason that Chris Carson retired and Alex Collins left Seattle. K9 shared the rock with Rashaad Penny in the latter’s final year in the PNW. DeeJay Dallas (4th-Rounder) and Homer (6th) also contributed during this era. The Ken Walker pick was panned as somewhat of a reach when it happened.
Christine Michael only totaled 1,089 yards over his half decade in the league. He was selected as Seattle already had Marshawn Lynch making his home in the offensive backfield and Robert Turbin (fourth-Rounder) backing him up. He never lived up to his hype as a game-breaker but did have a second stint with Seattle where he made some very solid starts over a two-year span. He also contended with backs such as Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise during his career (both of whom may have contributed to him being released).
Michael’s selection was seen as a surprise with Lynch and Turbin already in the fold. It had Seattle fans “scratching their heads,” as Danny O’Neil put it back in 2013. There’s a theme here, that the Hawks are unafraid to take major swings at talent to keep the running back room strong in its numbers.
Maurice Morris was really simply a solid backup / contributor in both the Shaun Alexander days, as well as the start of the short-lived Julius Jones days (~2.5 years). Morris averaged ~360 yards per season for his career (7 years in Seattle, 3 in Detroit) but did so at a 4.2 YPC clip. He also recorded at least 136 yards receiving each year for his final 5 seasons. He joined Alexander the Great and FB, Mack Strong in the backfield.
Morris was at the beach when he got the draft call. You wonder (like Alexander) if there would’ve been more criticism of Seattle’s move for him in Round 2 if Twitter had been around.
Third Round
- C.J. Prosise (2016, Pick 90)
C.J. Prosise led a snake-bitten career where he ended the season on injured reserve in each of his 4 seasons with the Seahawks. He played one more year (in Houston) but never cracked 300 yards rushing in total. He did have 411 yards receiving, including 208 his rookie year. Prosise was a wide receiver up until his final year of college when he filled in due to injuries and recorded 150+ rushing yards in both of his first two starts.
As mentioned in the Christine Michael section, Prosise was added to a squad that already had Rawls and Michael on it. Such high hopes for that trio… Seattle ALSO drafted Alex Collins (R.I.P.) in the 5th-Round in 2016. Despite all the options, the reception felt softer, as he was “only” a third-round Pick out of Notre Dame.
While second- and third-round picks spent on ball-carriers this millennium were hit or miss, the two other backs taken in Round 1 since 2000 have seen their elite flashes in blue and green.
Next up is the mystery man, Jadarian Price (another Golden Domer). Price will ply his trade for about half the cost of KWIII (if both play out their contracts). He was a backup to a potential generational back (Jeremiyah Love) in college but has a chance to write his own legacy in Seattle.
No matter if you feel like the pick could’ve been used differently, it’s clear that the Seattle Seahawks under John Schneider will prioritize having a menacing ground game at all times. They don’t care about the criticism that often comes with taking a back outside of the top 10 and before the 3rd Round.
It’ll be exciting to see if Jadarian was worth the price.
