Seahawks’ potential 2026 breakout star after strong OTAs showing

In addition to Walker, the Seahawks lost Boye Mafe, Coby Bryant, and Tariq Woolen in free agency. The latter three departures will be tough to overcome, but the loss of Walker still hurts the most. Walker became just the fourth Super Bowl MVP ever to leave his team in the succeeding offseason. The players who did that before Walker were Larry Brown, Desmond Howard, and Dexter Jackson, all of whom made most of their impact on defense or special teams.

It is clear that the Seahawks will have a major void at running back, but the hole left by Walker is compounded by the fact that Zach Charbonnet could miss most or all of next season because of the ACL injury he suffered in the playoffs this past season. Walker showed how talented he is in the Seahawks playoff run, but Seattle had really used a running back by committee philosophy in recent years, and now they are down both of their top ball carriers.

The team realized that filling this need was urgent, so they took Jadarian Price in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Expectations are sky high for the Notre Dame product, but rookies don’t always find success right away. Plus, Price was a backup to Jeremiyah Love in college, so it isn’t a guarantee that he will thrive in life as a starter from day one.

That means that Emanuel Wilson may be given a big role to start the season. If that becomes the case, he could end up having a breakout campaign for the Seahawks. Wilson rushed for close to 500 yards in each of the past two seasons, and given more of an opportunity, he could blow his prior production out of the water.

Thus far in his career, the running back from Johnson C Smith University and Fort Valley State has done nothing but defy the odds. He went undrafted in 2023 after playing for relatively unknown collegiate schools. He landed a contract with the Denver Broncos but was cut three days later, yet Wilson still managed to make the Green Bay Packers 53-man roster because of how well he performed in training camp and the preseason. Wilson has even started the last two seasons buried on the depth chart, just to emerge as a key contributor.

Perhaps the next trick up Wilson’s sleeve will be taking reps away from a first-round pick. Wilson was one of the Seahawks’ big offseason gets, so they clearly have plans for him. Don’t be surprised if he continues to exceed expectations and ends the year as Seattle’s biggest breakout performer.