George Holani has made noise this offseason, but his place on the Seattle Seahawks roster is still far from locked in. The biggest reason is simple: Zach Charbonnet’s status could reshape the whole backfield picture.
Seattle is expected to keep only three tailbacks, with potentially two fullbacks on top of that. Jadarian Price is viewed as a sure thing to make the roster after being the team’s first-round selection in 2026, and free-agent addition Emanuel Wilson also looks like a strong bet to stick on the active 53-man roster. That leaves Holani fighting for what may be one of the final spots.
He has done enough to stay in the conversation. Holani drew some RB1 reps during organized team activities and minicamp, and he has continued to look good in training camp. But those opportunities came with the assumption that Charbonnet would open the year on the physically unable to perform list while recovering from the knee injury he suffered in the Divisional Round last season.
That assumption may not hold.
Charbonnet could still begin the season on the active roster, which would immediately tighten the squeeze on the rest of the running back room. If that happens, Seattle would likely have to move another tailback off the roster with the hope of getting him through waivers and back onto the practice squad. Once a player is placed on PUP, he has to miss four games, and the team could then elevate the re-signed back to the active roster.
That would be the nightmare scenario for Seattle’s roster math, but it would be the best possible outcome for Holani if he were the player cut and later brought back. If Charbonnet is ready for Week 1, though, the Seahawks could be looking at a very different setup. In that version, Charbonnet would split work with Price, and Seattle’s rushing attack could be elite right out of the gate.
Even then, Holani might not be out of the picture completely. He could still land on the practice squad, though his offseason performance may have been enough to catch another team’s attention on waivers. He has earned a chance to play somewhere, but his route to doing that in Seattle is uncertain.
Wilson complicates things further. He is not the kind of player who has piled up huge numbers in his career, but he did get spot starts with the Green Bay Packers and handled himself well. Around the league, that kind of résumé can make a player hard to sneak through waivers.
There is also the matter of new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury’s approach. He is expected to lean on a fairly even run-pass split, much like his previous stop with the San Francisco 49ers, and his system uses a fullback more than most.
Seattle has Brady Russell and Robbie Ouzts, and both have seen time at tight end as well. That kind of flexibility matters, especially in a setup that could mirror the one Kyle Shanahan has used with Kyle Juszczyk.
And that is where the numbers get cramped. If Russell and Ouzts both make the active roster, Seattle may not have room to carry more than three tailbacks at all.
So Holani’s fate may come down to Charbonnet’s health. A quicker return from Charbonnet would help the Seahawks as a whole, but it would also make life much harder for Holani. In the end, the team’s priority is obvious: get the best players available on the field and give Seattle the strongest chance to defend last season’s Super Bowl victory.
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