The New York Giants want to field a relatively run-heavy offense in 2026, but are they satisfied with their backfield?
Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price is commonly cited as the second-best back in the 2026 NFL Draft, second only to his teammate Jeremiyah Love. Price doesn’t have his teammate’s upside, however he’s a good back in his own right.
Price has a number of traits that are shared by the backs already in the Giants’ backfield as a versatile and dependable runner. However, do the Giants believe that redundancy is good and invest in more of the same?
Prospect: Jadarian Price (24)
Games Watched: vs. Texas A&M (2025), vs. USC (2025), vs. Arkansas (2025)
Red Flags: Achilles (2022)
Measurables
Strengths
Best traits
- Vision
- Cutback ability
- Contact Balance
- Pass protection
- Competitive toughness
Jadarian Price is a well-rounded and versatile running back prospect.
He has solid quickness, agility, speed, contact balance, and play strength, all of which show up throughout his game. He has good vision behind the line of scrimmage, consistently anticipating defenders at the first and second level. He does a good job of running with patience behind the line of scrimmage to give his blocks time to mature, as well as using his pathing to set up defenders and create opportunities for cuts. He understands how to use his path behind the line of scrimmage, as well as quick fakes, to influence defenders before making his cuts.
He also typically anticipates cutback lates well and does a good job of setting himself up to take advantage of them. Price uses his quickness and agility to take advantage of those opportunities, using quick jump-cuts to exploit those quickly-flashing holes. He also runs with short choppy steps that allow him to quickly change direction as well as accelerate after changing direction.
Price has a compact back at 5-foot 10 ⅝ inches, 203 pounds, but runs with good power and a natural feel for getting behind his pads going into contact. He runs bigger than he measures and consistently manages to churn out tough yardage as well as fall forward for positive yardage while being tackled.
Finally, Price is a capable pass protector. He understands blocking schemes and is aggressive when stepping up to take on defenders. He blocks with good pad level and uses his natural leverage to maximize his play strength. Even when Price can’t stonewall defenders, he makes a point of losing with dignity to give his quarterback as much time as possible.
Weaknesses
Worst traits
- Pass catching
- Overall athleticism
- Achilles health
Price is a well-rounded running back, with few true weaknesses in his profile beyond the fact that he’s a good, but not great, athlete.
Price is the kind of back who picks up what is blocked for him, with the vision, agility, and contact balance to churn out tough yards. However, he doesn’t quite have the quick twitch, burst, and explosiveness to turn flashes of daylight into big gains.
If there’s a big question in his profile, it’s that his pass catching is something of a question mark. He simply doesn’t have much experience catching the ball with just 15 receptions across 41 career games for Notre Dame. Without more than an extremely small sample size on tape, teams will need to rely on workouts and board work to determine whether Price can be an asset in the passing game.
Teams will also need to do their due diligence on the ruptured Achilles suffered in off-season workouts that ended Price’s 2022 season before it started. He’s several years removed from the injury, but teams will want to be sure of the tendon’s health and long-term prognosis.
Game Tape
(Price is the Notre Dame running back wearing number 24.)
Projection
Jadarian Price projects as a rotational back at the NFL level. He would likely be best as a one-cut runner in a downhill scheme, however he has the versatility to play in most NFL offenses.
Teams that make heavy use of running backs in their passing attacks may have concerns regarding Price’s low receiving volume. However, his ability as a pass protector should get him on the field on third downs.
Overall, there isn’t anything truly spectacular about Price’s game, however there are also few true weaknesses. He’s a relatively high-floor, low-ceiling prospect who should be able to come on the field and produce in just about any situation and for any offense. Price may not be a star or a sparkplug, but he’s the type of player coaches always want to have on their rosters.
Does he fit the Giants? Yes, value permitting
Final Word: A Day 2 selection
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