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The Seattle Seahawks do not need another reminder that running back is a real draft priority.

ESPN’s Ben Solak put it plainly this week, calling running back “the big issue that must be addressed” for Seattle and pointing to Arkansas back Mike Washington Jr. as the kind of player general manager John Schneider has historically liked. Solak added that Washington should still be available at No. 64, which is where the Seahawks currently sit in Round 2.

That is the part Seahawks fans will care about most: this is not just another generic mock-draft name. It is a prospect with legitimate big-play juice, tied directly to Seattle’s most obvious backfield need.

Seattle’s need for explosiveness at the position has already been spelled out by ESPN’s Brady Henderson. After Kenneth Walker III left for the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency, the Seahawks were left searching for more speed in the backfield. Zach Charbonnet is also recovering from a torn ACL, and while Seattle added Emanuel Wilson, Henderson noted the draft may be the club’s likeliest path to restoring that missing home-run element.

Why this Seahawks draft fit stands out

Washington is easy to understand as a Seattle target because the selling point jumps off the page. He ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the combine, and Rob Rang wrote on Seahawks.com that he was the fastest participant in Indianapolis who weighed more than 220 pounds. Rang also called Washington’s combine workout one of the flashiest of any player there.

That kind of trait matters for this particular roster. Henderson wrote that Seattle is trying to replace the big-play ability it lost with Walker’s departure, noting Walker’s 34 carries of 20-plus yards over his NFL career rank among the league leaders for running backs in that span. If the Seahawks want to inject that kind of stress on defenses back into the offense, Washington’s profile makes immediate sense.

And the speed is not the whole case. In 2025 at Arkansas, Washington ran for 1,070 yards and eight touchdowns on 167 carries, averaging 6.4 yards per attempt, while also adding 28 catches for 226 yards and a touchdown. ESPN recently labeled him the draft’s “fastest rusher,” and another ESPN ranking had him as the No. 3 running back in Matt Miller’s positional rankings.

The Seahawks smoke is getting harder to ignore

This is where the story becomes more than just a trait-based projection.

Miller reported this week that Washington has met with Seattle in the run-up to the draft. Earlier, Miller’s seven-round mock sent Washington to the Seahawks at No. 64, writing that Seattle needs a back to pair with its current group and describing Washington as a powerful runner with breakaway 4.33 speed.

That stacks neatly with Solak’s new push for Seattle to attack the position and with Henderson’s reporting that Schneider has openly said the Seahawks will keep looking at running back. Put those pieces together, and this is no longer just random fan wish-casting. There is a clear need, a clear athletic fit, and now a clear trail of draft links.

Why Seahawks fans will latch onto this one

The fantasy is obvious.

Washington is a 223-pound back with verified 4.33 speed, which is the kind of build-and-burst combination that instantly gets fans thinking about chunk plays, broken pursuit angles and a more dangerous offense. Seahawks.com described him as offering an “intoxicating combination of size and breakaway speed,” while a Seattle mock from SI cited his “vision, pacing, pressing IQ, and finishing physicality” as traits of a true volume back.

That is why this fit has juice beyond the usual pre-draft noise. Seattle does not just need another body in the room. It needs a runner who changes how defenses have to play the offense. Washington’s profile makes it easy to imagine that kind of role, and the fact that he may still be there at No. 64 only adds to the appeal.