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Ja’Juan Seider was well aware of his players’ concerns regarding how he planned on rotating one of the deepest backfields in the country after being named the new running backs coach at Notre Dame.
He had Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price at his disposal, but that didn’t prevent Seider from going with the bold choice of having less of a rotation in 2025. In the era of the NIL and transfer portal, many coaches shy away from giving their prominent players less snaps.
Seider’s decision on how to dole out carries did not come immediately. This occurred after countless back-and-forth meetings and film sessions with his players, gaining their trust through the wealth of knowledge he had to offer from his coaching career, including seven years as the running backs coach at Penn State before arriving in South Bend. Seider noticed that having a rotation with defined roles was actually hindering his players’ overall development for the next level.
Seider prioritized reading defenses, focusing more on safety rotations and front alignments than knowing when their next carry will come. Once his players realized the benefits from watching, it became easier to preach patience while expanding their skill sets on the field.
“The game is slowing down for me,” Seider recalled hearing from his players. “I feel free.”
The Fighting Irish found themselves on the right side of many blowouts and had their top running backs on the sidelines for most fourth quarters, giving Seider fewer reasons to produce a consistent rotation. His running backs didn’t need to see the lopsided victories or the statistics (they led the nation in average yards per carry) to know Seider’s push to prioritize the mental aspect of the game was going to come with advantages.
“I’m teaching you the bigger picture,” Seider said. “I’m teaching you so when you go to that scouting combine, you already know how to interview because you’ve already done this already. You’re comfortable in those positions.”
With Love and Price growing in various ways last season, they’re considered two of the best running backs in this year’s draft. One NFC coach toldSports Illustrated that Love is the best offensive player in the class, and listed Price as his second-best running back behind Love.
With insight from Seider and the NFC coach, here’s how we rank the top seven running backs in the 2026 draft.
1. Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame
Seider and our NFC coach had similar explanations for why they consider the 6'0", 214-pound Love worthy of a top-10 draft selection. For starters, they both called him a weapon and a dangerous pass catcher.
“He’s not just a running back,” Seider said. “He’s a weapon. He can beat you in the backfield, he can beat you by picking up pass pro to protect your quarterback. … They rotated so much [in 2024], I didn’t know J-Love can catch the ball as good as any wide receiver in the countryand run routes.”
Our NFC coach compared Love’s skill set to Christian McCaffrey and Bijan Robinson. He also mentioned that he would like to see Love land with a team that will make it a priority to use him out of the backfield.
“He can create mismatches,” he said. “You move him to the slot, suddenly you go from 21-personnel to 11-personnel. That’s really unique.”
2. Jadarian Price, Notre Dame
Seider said it wasn’t a problem for Price to play behind Love, the Heisman Trophy finalist, because he always had a starter’s mindset and opponents treated him that way due to his punishing running style.
“He’s an outstanding runner,” our NFC coach said. “Just on run skills, I think half the people (who make the draft picks) would take him over Love. This dude can run the football. But Love is the complete back. The receiving element sets him over.”
The 5'11", 209-pound Price did show some upside as a receiver during his Notre Dame pro day last month.
3. Emmett Johnson, Nebraska
The 5'10", 202-pound Johnson has the makings of being a workhorse back with his punishing north-south running style.
“That kid reminds me so much of LeSean McCoy when I watched McCoy at Pitt,” the NFC coach said. “He’s not the fastest, he’s not the biggest, but man, his movement skills, his change of direction … all that is on point. He has a high football IQ.”
4. Demond Claiborne, Wake Forest
Don’t be surprised if Claiborne hears his name called sooner than expected. His elite speed is drawing comparisons to Jahmyr Gibbs, but there are some character concerns with the 5'10", 188-pound prospect.
“He’s got some stuff you can’t coach,” our NFC coach said. “He can run sideways faster than half these guys can run forward. This guy is dynamic.
“If you use him the right way, put him in an ideal situation, he’s the best speed and space back in the draft. He can score from anywhere on the football field. This is the closest I see someone to Gibbs.”
5. Nicholas Singleton, Penn State
Seider said he recruited Love out of high school, but he always knew it would be difficult to get him to Penn State because they had just gotten a commitment from Singleton. That would have been a fun tandem to watch in college.
Singleton had a better 2024 season after struggling a bit last season. Still, he’s an enticing prospect who stands at 6'0" and 219 pounds. He’s a versatile playmaker who catches the ball out of the backfield and blocks on third down.
6. Mike Washington Jr., Arkansas
Don’t be fooled by Washington’s 6'1", 223-pound frame. He can do more than just contribute near the goal line and in short-yardage situations.
Washington has the vision and quick feet to take advantage of small openings. He also showed upside on swing passes to make something out of nothing.
7. Jonah Coleman, Washington
The 5'8", 220-pound Coleman will likely make his next offensive coordinator want to see more from him over the course of his rookie season because he has a knack for moving the chains.
“I like the kid from Washington,” our NFC coach said. “He’s a good back. He’ll keep the chains moving. Maybe not take over games, but he’ll keep the coordinator on schedule, which is important.”
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GILBERTO MANZANO
Gilberto Manzano is a staff writer covering the NFL for Sports Illustrated. After starting off as a breaking news writer at NFL.com in 2014, he worked as the Raiders beat reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and covered the Chargers and Rams for the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Daily News. During his time as a combat sports reporter, he was awarded best sports spot story of 2018 by the Nevada Press Association for his coverage of the Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov post-fight brawl. Manzano, a first-generation Mexican-American with parents from Nayarit, Mexico, is the cohost of Compas on the Beat, a sports and culture show featuring Mexican-American journalists. He has been a member of the Pro Football Writers of America since 2017.
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