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Seahawks Still Waiting on a 2026 Breakout, and Jadarian Price Gets a Chance in Las Vegas
At 5-4, the Seahawks still have no young breakout player. Rookie Jadarian Price faces a weak Raiders run defense, and Seattle is favored at -264.
Nine games into the title defense, the Seattle Seahawks still don't have the young breakout player many people expected to see by now. SB Nation's Field Gulls raised the question in Friday's news roundup, and it matters because Seattle is 5-4 and almost all of its passing offense has gone through one player.
Stacy Rost of Seattle Sports looked at the offseason candidates. That group included receiver Tory Horton, tight end AJ Barner, Rashid Shaheed in his first full offseason with the club, fullback Robbie Ouzts, rookie safety Bud Clark and second-year tight end Elijah Arroyo. Injuries took out part of that list. Clark, Ouzts and Arroyo all have season-ending injuries, and Clark and Ouzts were hurt before the season started. Barner scored his first receiving touchdown of the year in Week 9. Jaxon Smith-Njigba already has more than 1,000 receiving yards, which is a pace that would put him past 2,000. Rost wrote that Seattle has gotten little production from anyone else.
The usual explanations still apply. The play-caller is in his first year. Ken Walker is gone. Sam Darnold has thrown nine interceptions while playing hurt. The Seattle Times reports that Drew Lock is preparing to make his second straight start even though he is dealing with more than one injury.
Rost picked rookie running back Jadarian Price as the player most likely to break out this week. Las Vegas has the league's worst run defense by her count. The Raiders have allowed at least 160 rushing yards in five of their last six games, and they trail the next-worst team, Cleveland, by 150 yards. Price will share carries with Zach Charbonnet. Price did more as a receiver than as a runner in Week 9.
What it means for Sunday in Las Vegas
The Seahawks play at the Raiders on Sunday, November 15, on CBS. Seattle has won two of its last three games, and its defense held both winners, Kansas City and Arizona, to 3 points. In between came a 34-17 loss to Chicago. Seattle has scored 202 points and allowed 162 this season, a margin of plus-40. Road games have been harder than home games. The Seahawks are 4-2 at home and 1-2 away, and the only road win came against Arizona.
The Raiders will look unfamiliar. Seahawks.com notes that No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza makes his first start and that former Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is calling plays for Las Vegas. That means Seattle has no NFL film of the quarterback, while the other sideline knows Seattle's staff well.
The market still has Seattle as a clear favorite. On this site's board, which covers 12 venues, Novig lists the Seahawks at -264 on the moneyline and the Raiders at +257. On the spread, Seattle is favored by 6.5 at -102, and Las Vegas is at even money. The total is 40.5, with the over at -104 and the under at -102.
The two sides of Novig's moneyline imply a combined probability only about half a point above 100 percent. The sportsbooks on the board carry a hold of 3.5 to 5.0 percent on the moneyline and 2.9 to 5.0 percent on the spread. That gap is the main difference between venues for this game. A 40.5 total fits a Seattle team that has kept three of its last four opponents to 17 points or fewer. If Price produces against this run defense, he would give Seattle a second source of offense beyond Smith-Njigba.