Can Jadarian Price Be An Impactful Pass Catcher For The Seahawks?

Jadarian Price didn’t do much receiving for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish across three seasons, but does he have the ability to add value there?

Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price (RB15) during the NFL Scouting Combine. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

When I think about the most important things that a team needs to be good at to succeed in the modern NFL, my mind always goes to third down. Most of the time, the best teams are the ones that can stay on the field on offense and get off the field on defense. And that consistently comes back to having success on third down.

Yes, success on earlier downs makes third downs easier, but even then, there come several crucial moments in most NFL games where a team needs to execute on a third and medium or third and long. Outside of blowouts, which are ultimately fairly uncommon in the NFL, those are the plays where games get decided most of the time.

And what happens on those plays that’s different? Mostly, the offense isn’t going to run the ball, and the defense knows the offense isn’t going to run the ball. This is where quarterbacks have to make a read, receivers have to get open, and offensive linemen have to hold up in pass protection. Pass rushers have to get home, and the back seven have to hold up in coverage.

Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price, right, runs the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

So where does that leave running backs? Typically, if they’re on the field, they’re either blocking, going out for a route to act as a receiver, or both. So, when I look at running backs, I find myself placing a lot of value on their abilities to help their team one of those two ways. And when I look at Jadarian Price, I have questions.

Based on what I’ve seen, Price doesn’t offer much as a blocker, as he was fairly leaky in pass protection at Notre Dame and the Irish tended to take him off the field on third downs for blocking reps when possible. He could improve, but as of right now, it’s not his game. And he hauled in all of 15 catches across 41 games in college, so what are we talking about here?

The difference is that, while Price can be observed to be a substandard blocker, it’s not quite so clear on the pass-catching front. Notre Dame had Jeremiyah Love on their team the last three seasons, one of the best pass catching backs in the sport, registering 63 receptions in that same timespan. Price’s lack of production here might be circumstantial.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jadarian Price (24) returns a kickoff for a touchdown. | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

The Seahawks have experienced something like this in recent memory. Ken Walker, the primary running back for the team over the last four seasons before departing for Kansas City, caught 133 passes in 58 games, plus another 10 catches in 4 playoff games. This came after a three year college career where Walker amassed 19 receptions in 33 games.

Price was actually quite productive on his 15 catches as well, with 162 yards and 3 touchdowns. That’s significantly more efficient and explosive than Walker, who amassed 136 yards and 1 touchdown despite more catches. Also, if you want to peel it back to high school, Price caught 64 passes in his career at Denison, including 55 in his final 22 games.

We won’t know for sure until we see him play a bit. And there’s also a question of what kinds of passes he’ll be catching, as there’s a difference between just handling checkdowns and running actual routes. But him becoming a weapon out of the backfield is a crucial part of him trying to elevate his value to the team and making himself worth that first round pick.

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