The Seahawks are still sorting out the running back picture, and Jadarian Price’s brief absence has given Emanuel Wilson a chance to force his way into the conversation.
Price, the rookie Seattle took with the No. 32 overall pick in the NFL Draft out of Notre Dame, had been turning heads early in camp. But he has missed the last two practices because of leg soreness, and that opened the door for Wilson to make a stronger case for touches once the regular season starts.
Head coach Mike Macdonald has liked what he’s seen.
“I'm going to sound really cliché right now, but he just keeps stacking days, from where he started to where he is now,” head coach Mike Macdonald said, per ESPN's Brady Henderson. “It seems like he keeps making plays, he keeps being productive in his style of ball, which is really cool.
What he brings to the table is exciting. There's a physicality, a heaviness to his game, which is fun to have on offense.”
That physical edge is part of what makes Wilson interesting in this competition. At 5-foot-10 and 226 pounds, he brings a sturdier build than Price and profiles as the kind of back who can handle short-yardage work and grind out tough yards between the tackles. That could make him a useful complement if Seattle wants to lighten the rookie’s workload.
George Holani is also in the mix for that role on the depth chart, but Wilson appears to be making the stronger impression right now.
And the picture won’t stay this open forever. Zach Charbonnet is expected back at some point during the season after tearing his ACL in the playoffs, and when he returns, he will likely slide into the feature-back job. Until then, Wilson, Price and the rest of Seattle’s backs have a window to show they belong in the rotation once Charbonnet is back in the fold.
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He has framed the challenge in broader terms, pointing to Michael Jordan and the Bulls as an example of how a title team can keep evolving rather than standing still. For Seattle, the focus now is less about celebrating what came before and more about building the kind of culture that can carry another run, with the next step depending on how quickly the new pieces fit together. [Read more 🡒]