Jadarian Price never started a college game at Notre Dame, never had more than 15 touches in a game, and still may leave South Bend as one of the first running backs picked in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Two of FOX Sports' three final mock drafts projected Price as the second running back selected and linked him to the Seattle Seahawks with the No. 32 overall pick. The 5-foot-11, 203-pound back rushed for 1,692 yards and 21 touchdowns in three years, production that now has him drawing first-round attention from teams that once wondered why he stayed put.
Price said NFL teams have asked him why he did not transfer from Notre Dame. His answer was simple: he wanted to finish his sociology degree and spend his fourth year with the players he had done it with. “I made it a challenge to myself to stay at Notre Dame and finish my degree, finish my fourth year with the guys I've done it with who have made me better,” he said. “I truly believe in commitment and love this place.”
That decision now sits at the center of his draft rise. Price said he is grateful he stayed because he is now in position to be “potentially the No. 2 back off the board,” and added that trusting his instincts and faith could “really save your future.” He also said the backfield success he shared with Jeremiyah Love mattered as much as the numbers. “Not many people can do what both of us did, both in the success we had on the field but also being able to handle it mentally and emotionally off the field,” Price said. “I had less opportunities, but even [Love] had less opportunities. The only thing we can control is the way we approach the game every day, and the past two seasons, we did amazing together.”
If Price and Love are the first two running backs taken, Notre Dame would produce the top two backs in the draft class and, according to FOX Sports, could become the first school in the Super Bowl era to have the first and third running backs selected in the same draft. The closest parallel came last year, when Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson went early out of Ohio State in the second round as the third and fourth running backs taken.
Price and Love were coached by Deland McCullough from 2022 to 2024, a span that helped shape one of the deepest backfields in the country. McCullough has also worked as a running backs coach with the Chiefs and Raiders, giving Price another reason to believe the path he chose at Notre Dame was the right one.
For Price, the draft case is no longer about what he did not have at Notre Dame. It is about what he made of limited chances, and whether an NFL team sees a back who stayed, developed and may still end up hearing his name called on the final night of the draft.
