2026 NFL Draft: Meet Jadarian Price, the Backup RB Who is RB2 in This Draft Class

Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price never started a college game and never had more than 15 touches in a game. Yet, there’s a strong chance he’ll be the second running back taken in the 2026 NFL Draft.

All the spotlight is on Jeremiyah Love, who could go as high as third overall, but Price is an exceptional back, choosing to stay at a time when most talented backups would find another home through the transfer portal.

“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, who rushed for 1,692 yards and 21 touchdowns in three years, told me. “I had less opportunities, but even [Love] had much less alternatives. The solely factor we are able to management is the manner we strategy the sport daily, and the previous two seasons, we did superb collectively.”

Notre Dame has an opportunity to have the first literal 1-2 punch at operating again in any draft in the Super Bowl period, the place the high two backs off the board are from the identical college. Not solely did two of FOX Sports’ three closing NFL mock drafts have Price being the second operating again taken, however in addition they have the Notre Dame standout going to the Seattle Seahawks with the No. 32 general choose.

If that occurs, Price would formally be thought-about a first-round expertise, making him a uncommon first-round choose who spent his faculty profession as a backup. Price, who is 5-foot-11 and 203 kilos, mentioned NFL groups have requested him rather a lot why he did not switch and selected to remain at Notre Dame slightly than depart for a college the place he might get twice as many carries as a featured again.

“I’m super thankful I did it, because now I’m standing as potentially the No. 2 back off the board,” Price mentioned. “That shows you how trusting your gut, trusting God’s plan can really save your future. I made it a challenge to myself to stay at Notre Dame and finish my degree [in sociology]finish my fourth year with the guys I’ve done it with who have made me better. I truly believe in commitment and love this place.”

PALO ALTO, CA – NOVEMBER 29: Jadarian Price #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish stiff arms Matt Rose #35 of the Stanford Cardinal throughout a sport on November 29, 2025 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, CA. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Images)

Three instances, a college has had two of the high three backs drafted. Auburn had Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams as the first and third operating backs chosen in the 2005 draft, when each gamers went in the top-five (Texas’ Cedric Benson was sandwiched between them). Arkansas had Darren McFadden and Felix Jones go as the first and third operating backs chosen in the 2008 draft, with Oregon’s Jonathan Stewart going between them. Alabama had Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake as the second and third operating backs taken in the 2016 draft,

The concept of ​​two operating backs from the identical college making a splash as rookies is not something new, although. Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson had been each drafted early out of Ohio State in the second spherical final yr as the third and fourth backs taken. They each completed in the high three in dashing yards amongst rookies, trailing solely Ashton Jeanty of the Las Vegas Raiders.

The shared backfield is one thing you see in the NFL — see the Lions in latest years with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery — and that plan got here from operating backs coach Deland McCullough, who coached Price and Love from 2022-24 and has labored in the identical function with the NFL’s Chiefs and Raiders.

“I’ve sat in those rooms in the NFL, and I’ve never heard a GM or scout say ‘God, I wish that guy had 200 more carries,'” McCullough, now operating backs coach at Oklahoma, advised me. “But I’ve heard them say, ‘I wish this guy didn’t have as many as he did.’ If you can show more with less, that was valuable.”

So Price, who missed his freshman yr recovering from a torn Achilles tendon in 2022, had simply 280 carries in faculty. Most prospects are nearer to 500, and Penn State’s Kaytron Allen, one other high draft prospect, has 769. It’s like the outdated Indiana Jones line — “It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage” — that may very well be a plus for Price in the NFL.

“That was by design. It was very deliberate,” McCullough mentioned. “It was for the development of the entire room. It was about identifying things JD could really do well while you continued to work on the other things. In the NFL, it wasn’t a situation where you needed to see a guy do pass protection 100 times. All you need to know is he can do it. You don’t need to see him run with power 95 times. It’s not that at all. JD was a heck of a complementary player. He embraced the role he had.”

An added ability Price brings to the NFL is success on kickoff returns, having taken three for touchdowns whereas at Notre Dame. College soccer nonetheless has the conventional return mannequin, however he mentioned his skill to make individuals miss will translate to the new NFL kickoff format.

“It’s the same mindset: treat it just like running back: you’ve got to make someone miss,” he mentioned. “If you look at all of my touchdowns, there wasn’t one where I was untouched. In the NFL, it’s really just one level, so if you can hit a seam and make one guy miss, it’s to the house.”

One side of Price’s sport he did not get to point out a lot at Notre Dame was catching passes out of the backfield, with simply 15 catches for 162 yards and three scores in his three seasons. He made {that a} precedence this spring, working with trainers on his fingers, understanding an all-around again in the NFL will wish to be concerned in the receiving facet of the offense as nicely.

“That’s been the main focus these past two months, whether it was combine or pro day, showing teams my knowledge of the pass game and my ability and confidence to catch the ball,” Price mentioned.

Love completed third in Heisman Trophy voting and may very well be a top-five choose Thursday night time, however at the mix, he mentioned that Price has simply as a lot potential to thrive in the NFL, maybe even in a bigger function than he had in faculty.

“JD has the opportunity and the potential to be one of the best running backs in the league,” Love advised reporters in Indianapolis. “As long as he goes into it with a humble mind and just a hunger to work and just compete. You know, JD, sky’s the limit for JD. He’s going to do great things in the league and he’s going to play for a long time.”

JaJuan Seider, who took over for McCullough and coached the Notre Dame operating backs this previous season, mentioned Price’s eagerness to co-exist with Love and put the workforce first is one thing NFL groups additionally wish to see.

“They’re their biggest cheerleaders — they both wanted the other to be successful,” Seider advised me. “They knew there would be some sacrifices with that. They’re very unselfish, always about the team and making each other better. JD plays like a starter. Even though he wasn’t out there for the first carry, when you see how fast he starts up, his first carry in a game is a touchdown. He can turn that switch when he gets on the football field.”

Price is more likely to be a second-round choose Friday, and it ought to come all the way down to him and Arkansas’ Mike Washington Jr. for which again goes second after Love.

Last yr’s Notre Dame-Syracuse sport was an illustration of the Fighting Irish’s dominant 1-2 punch at operating again. They had been up 21-0 earlier than the offense had touched the ball, after which Love had a 45-yard landing on his first contact, then Price had a 58-yard rating on the subsequent drive, placing up 35-0 with 4 minutes nonetheless left in the first quarter.

That’s why those that’ve coached Price are assured he could make an impression at the subsequent stage, even when he is by no means needed to carry the burden of being a No. 1 operating again.

“He’s shown it: I can come in and break off a 50-yard run. I can come in and average, shoot, there was a point in 2024 he averaged almost 6 yards after contact,'” McCullough mentioned. “C’mon, man. You take those and bottle it up, NFL teams are drooling over that. He doesn’t need 20 touches. This guy can get 11 touches and break a game open.”