Jadarian Price’s fumble issues are not new
The Seattle Seahawks have been blessed with tremendous ball security from their main running backs over the past few seasons. Kenneth Walker III never lost a fumble with the Seahawks and only had one career fumble on an actual run play, while Zach Charbonnet's next fumble will be his first.
Walker is on another team (and looking like a viable Offensive Player of the Year candidate) while Charbonnet isn't back for at least another two weeks. The Seahawks are relying on Jadarian Price to be an immediate contributor as a first-round pick. He's shown some flashes of explosive runs and an ability to be a receiving threat out of the backfield, so there's been a good helping of promising plays.
He's also put the ball on the ground twice in as many weeks.
.@ZavenCollins liked what he saw #SEAvsAZ | FOX pic.twitter.com/QHufimdBab
- Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 20, 2026
FUMBLE @SEAvsWAS on FOX/FOX One
- NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026
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The second fumble was enough for the Seahawks to bench him until the two-minute drill of the first half of their 33-31 loss to the Washington Commanders. It might seem like tough love, but Price is a rookie and he doesn't have the same leeway as more established running backs.
I think just as a team, if we turn the ball over, it's not good business," Mike Macdonald said after the game. So, when you come back after the initial fumble, we decide to calm it down and bring it back after the half. He's gonna be fine. He's gonna figure it out, he'll be fine."
I made a mistake," Price said. Just got to deal with the consequences."
Price only carried the ball two more times and had just six total touches for 21 yards. It was a day in which the Seahawks generated almost nothing on the ground, so it wasn't like Emanuel Wilson or George Holani were significantly better.
But the fumbling for Price is not a new issue. It was brought up in his final season at Notre Dame, in which he fumbled three times (losing two) on just 113 carries. All of his fumbles last year were inside the opposition 10, with C.J. Carr preventing a hat trick of red zone turnovers. That may or may not be why Seattle has been hesitant to give him the ball in goal-to-go situations.
- Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) September 28, 2026
Adding his 12 games in his final Notre Dame season, Price has five fumbles in 15 games. That's five fumbles over 141 carries, or one on every 28 attempts. In effect, that's two games worth of carries for Price. James Cook of the Buffalo Bills led all running backs in the NFL with six fumbles last season, except that's on 309 carries and he did a little thing called leading the league in rushing yards. Price hasn't quite built up that sort of equity to where the fumbles are a minor story due to terrific productivity.
This is not an indictment of the pick or an indication that this is who Price will always be. But for someone who was not the primary back at Notre Dame and hasn't even had the bulk of the carries as a pro, this is a legitimate concern until he fixes it. I trust that Price will be able to work on this as he develops, but it's a weakness in his game that opposition defenses are going to relentlessly attack. And this, never mind any pass protection concerns, might affect his workload until he earns the trust of the coaching staff.