The Seattle Seahawks have a number of needs in the 2026 NFL draft, but they only have four selections to address those small problems. One position that Seattle might look to add to is running back, which is why the team recently took a top-30 visit with Toledo's Chip Trayanum.
To be fair, Seattle, like many teams, doesn't take all their top-30 visits with players who are likely to be high-round draft picks. Many times, enough film and access to be able to interview, such as at the NFL combine, exist that a team doesn't need yet another chance to do what they may have already done. This means a player visiting definitely has the eye of a team.
Trayanum should have general manager John Schneider and the scouting department's eye, too. The Toledo product is built like a Seahawks running back. He is 5'11" and nearly 230 pounds, so he would seem built to take NFL-type punishment. He is more Zach Charbonnet than Kenneth Walker, and having bigger backs should fit in new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury's system.
Seattle Seahawks take a visit with Toledo running back Chip Trayanum
More aptly, Chip Trayanum might be more Chris Carson than anyone else Seattle is looking at, and that is important. In the 2017 draft, Seattle chose Carson, who is almost identical in size to Trayanum, in the seventh round. He turned out to be an immediate starter, but unfortunately, he was destined to have an injury-riddled career.
No one can ever count on a player to be healthy, of course, but assuming they will get hurt a lot isn't right either. Maybe Trayanum, who is likely to go late in 2026, if he is chosen at all, can turn out to be Chris Carson, only healthier.
Neither Carson nor Trayanum has blazing speed, and that is what hurts Trayanum's draft stock the most, but they can run over would-be tacklers. In short-yardage situations, both could be lethal.
Unlike Carson, who played all of his college football at Oklahoma State before becoming a 1,000-yard rusher for the Seahawks in 2018 and 2019, Trayanum bounced around from school to school. He began at Arizona State, then transferred to Ohio State, skipped next to Kentucky, before ending his sixth year in college at Toledo.
All that jumping around allowed the running back to see a lot of different systems, but it also implies no team was sold on him being their long-term solution for RB1. His power was great, but his speed and athleticism were not.
One positive part was that Chip Trayanum was a respected linebacker in high school and was close to playing that spot at Arizona State. He carries an aggressive mentality for a running back. The Seattle Seahawks will no doubt love that about him. The team would also love for Trayanum to turn out to be a late-round steal just like Chris Carson was.