Jadarian Price vs Joe Burrow

“Round 9: Jadarian Price (RB – SEA) With Kenneth Walker III leaving for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Seahawks drafted Jadarian Price in the first round.”

“Price is a wonderful rushing talent ranking 25th and fifth in yards after contact per attempt, 31st and 3rd in breakaway rate, and 15th and 39th in elusive rating over the last two seasons in college (per PFF). Price is an intriguing RB2 with a ton of upside in 2026.”

“Jadarian Price was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Seahawks to be their new Kenneth Walker (and maybe more). Walker led the backfield last year for Seattle, but they limited his usage in the red zone and in the passing game. Price remains an unknown in the passing game after only 13 targets over the last two collegiate seasons at Notre Dame, but he could easily surpass Walker’s red zone usage in 2205.”

“The other player younger than Tuten is Jadarian Price , who has a looming split backfield with Zach Charbonnet .”

“Price was just selected in the first round by the reigning Super Bowl champions, who have an extremely run-heavy offense. Right now, his biggest competition for touches is George Holani , a 2024 UDFA with less than 100 career rushing yards.”

“Jadarian Price is another running back to fade. While everyone loves rookie running backs with first-round draft capital, here’s the thing: He’s not your usual first-round running back.”

“Brian Fleury has to preserve the pieces that worked while adjusting to a backfield that lost Kenneth Walker III, may not have Zach Charbonnet for much of the year, and is leaning heavily on rookie Jadarian Price despite major questions in pass protection, ball security, and receiving usage.”

“That gutted the backfield, and GM John Schneider responded by spending his first-round pick, the 32nd overall selection, on Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price, the first running back Seattle has taken in the first round since Rashaad Penny in 2018. Price is a dynamic talent who averaged 6.0 yards per carry behind No. 3 overall pick Jeremiyah Love and led the nation with 37.5 yards per kickoff return, though he will need to refine his pass protection to handle a full three-down role.”

“The Seahawks ‘ selection of running back Jadarian Price in the first round of this year’s draft was likely influenced in part by the fact that Zach Charbonnet is expected to miss the start of the season. With Charbonnet on the shelf, Price will compete with George Holani and Emanuel Wilson for early-season touches.”

“Price is a long shot to finish as an RB1 this season. However, the Seahawks lost Kenneth Walke in free agency, while Zach Charbonnet is coming off a torn ACL and likely won’t play until Thanksgiving, if not later. Last year, Seattle had a run-first offense, ranking third in rushing attempts, averaging 25.8 per game from their running backs.”

“Price's current average draft position sits in the middle rounds, a range he should outperform with ease. Managers gain his entire rookie contract at peak age, with immediate volume and multi-year stability.”

“Jadarian Price will have every opportunity to be the lead back in Week 1 with Zach Charbonnet recovering from his injury.”

“For example, fantasy players would need to use four of their first five or six picks to build a Cincinnati Bengals stack of Ja’Marr Chase , Chase Brown , Tee Higgins , and Joe Burrow”

“Lamar Jackson , Jayden Daniels , Joe Burrow , Baker Mayfield , and Kyler Murray all were selected as top-12 players at the position and finished double-digit slots behind expectations in terms of points per game.”

“Round 1: Joe Burrow (QB – CIN) To kick things off at No. 4 overall, I went with Joe Burrow .”

“Even with a modest target share, Higgins maximizes his opportunities in one of the NFL’s premier passing offenses led by Joe Burrow .”

“The pivot to more under-center passing won’t be as natural and certainly might not be anywhere near as successful for the Bengals, because Burrow clearly isn’t as comfortable and doesn’t perform as well. In fact, if we go back the last three years, Burrow’s under-center dropbacks average just 3.6 air yards, which ranked dead last: #69 out of 69 qualifying QBs. His time to throw of 2.81 seconds was the #5 fastest out of 69 QBs, and he threw just 17% of passes 10+ yards downfield, also ranking dead last.”

“Zac Taylor wants the Bengals to play more from under center in 2026. Unfortunately, Joe Burrow under center is precisely where this offense struggles most, which is why the Bengals haven't used it often of late. How much the Bengals choose to pivot to under-center passing and how much Burrow can improve on these dropbacks might have a large impact on their fortunes in 2026.”

“Overvalued: Joe Burrow, Quarterback (QB4, Pick 59 OVR) Now, this isn’t to say that I don’t like Joe Burrow, or that I don’t think that Joe Burrow is a talented player; I just think that Joe Burrow is capped insofar as he doesn’t rush at all, and the Bengals’ offensive line isn’t strong enough for him to be a consistent top-four player without the rushing.”

“Of the top-10 quarterbacks based on LTV, Burrow is the one quarterback with little to no rushing upside, making him the quarterback I would want to trade away.”

“Burrow was once again impactful when on the field, completing 66.8% of his passes for a 6.6% touchdown rate. Burrow is the only quarterback with a touchdown rate of 6% or higher in each of the past two seasons.”

“Despite finishing the season as the QB29 last season due to missed games, Burrow finished the season red hot. Through the final six weeks of 2025, Burrow was on pace for 4500+ passing yards and 43 passing TDs. Since 2023, Burrow in Week 1 has been atrocious.”

“Over the last four seasons, Burrow has established himself as one of the NFL's premier fantasy quarterbacks even without the rushing upside of the Allen/Lamar types. He finished as the overall QB3 or better for 14 weeks in that span. What's wild is he missed 17 games in that span!”

“Joe Burrow's health has been the biggest hurdle for this team in recent seasons. If he remains healthy, Burrow will put up MVP numbers, and the Bengals will be in the thick of the playoff hunt in a loaded AFC field of contenders.”