INDIANAPOLIS — As Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price cycled through his NFL scouting combine interviews last week, he received the same question from many teams.
Why didn’t he transfer to a different school to become a featured back?
Price played three seasons in South Bend, Ind., alongside Jeremiyah Love, the 2025 Heisman Trophy finalist whom some analysts call the second-best player in this year’s draft behind Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. That meant a reduced workload for Price and less of a spotlight on his impressive game next to Love’s stunning highlights.
Price had the option to go elsewhere after a sophomore season in 2024 in which he rushed for 746 yards and seven touchdowns for a team that advanced to the College Football Playoff national championship game. But he wanted to stay at Notre Dame. The hardest part of that was telling his mom that he was turning down money from another school to stay.
“That was hard,” Price said Friday at the combine. “Money can be a big thing, but it’s not everything. Money isn’t everything. That was what I truly believed. The brotherhood and people I met at Notre Dame made me a better player, and I wanted to continue that, especially what we had done in the ‘24 season. We had aspirations to go back to the national championship.”
Notre Dame just missed the CFP last season, but Price rushed for 674 yards and 11 touchdowns on 113 carries and had 12 kickoff returns for 450 yards and two TDs.
NFL teams told Price in their meetings that they respect that decision. The question is if the teams respect Price’s game enough to pick him in the first round and give Notre Dame a rare feat of two running backs from the same school going so high.
Draft analysts Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network and Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN both rank Price as the second-best running back in the draft behind Love. Jeremiah ranks him as the No. 43 player overall, calling him “a compact running back with terrific vision and balance” and touting his patient running style, reliable hands despite minimal receiving opportunities and ability to identify blitzers in pass protection. Kiper mocked Price at No. 28 to the Houston Texans.
Price said he hoped to address questions about his receiving ability at the combine and in the predraft process. He said teams talked to him in the combine interviews about fumbling issues but also complimented his ability to get downhill quickly.
“JD has the opportunity and the potential to be one of the best running backs in the league,” Love said. “As long as he goes into it with a humble mind and a hunger to work and compete, the sky is the limit for JD. He’s going to do great things in the league and play for a long time.”
The drawbacks to Price playing alongside Love are obvious when it comes to basic draft evaluation.
Love commanded attention — and the football — in 2025, rushing for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns on 199 carries and also catching 27 passes for 280 yards and three scores. The best highlight from almost any Notre Dame game was of Love, spinning or hurdling his way through defenders.
“It was a special thing,” Notre Dame wide receiver Malachi Fields said of Love at the combine Friday. “He’s a freak athlete, insane football player. Just knowing whenever he touches the ball he can take it to the house was an awesome thing. It made my job fun out there blocking for him.”
But Price also saw benefits from playing with Love, who was his roommate at the combine, just like he was during road games at Notre Dame.
He said some NFL teams have talked to him about being fresher, having less wear and tear from not having the same workload as a featured back — though he gladly would take on that load in the NFL.
He also said he and Love learned from one another.
“One thing I learned from him is it is football at the end of the day, so you can go out there and play freely, play as a kid,” Price said. “You see how he goes out there and does the moves and just plays proud and lets his talent take over. I learned to do that over my time here and not be so stressed and tense about what I need to do to succeed and just go out there and play.”
Love showcased that attitude Friday when he was asked about the pressure of being a potential top-five pick.
“No pressure at all,” he said. “I’m just being myself. And if people see that as me being a projected top-10 pick or a projected first-round pick, it really doesn’t matter to me. I’m going to go out there and be myself no matter where I go, no matter when my name is called. I’m going to be Jeremiyah Love.
“It’s a great honor seeing people recognize me as such. And I plan to go out there to prove myself right and prove everybody else right as well.”
Price said he received a flood of messages after he and Love declared for the draft, with people telling him how much they enjoyed watching the two play together. He said it made him feel proud of what they did at Notre Dame.
He thinks they’ll be fun at the next level too.
“The things that me and Jeremiyah have done have been great,” Price said. “But we’re going to be great NFL backs.”
