Jonah Coleman on potential NFL draft fits: ‘You want to go to a great situation’

Yahoo Sports’ Woody Wommack sat down with the Washington running back at the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh to discuss the chances of landing in Seattle or Denver – two places he visited during the draft process – and more. Jonah joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of Buffalo Wild Wings.

Video Transcript

So my dad was always big, like, “You don’t fumble that football.”

And it all showed up, and it’s still showing up.

So I feel like ball security is job security.

Woody Womack here with Washington running back Jonah Coleman.

Getting ready for the draft.

You’re in Pittsburgh.

How excited are you?

I know you’re, you gotta be a little nervous- Yeah but just to, to hear your name called on Thursday or Friday, whenever it come, comes out.

Well, first and foremost, I would like to thank Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

You know, without Him, I wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in.

And, ah, it’s finally here.

You know, I’ve been playing football since I was six, five years old, and to finally see all the hard work and stuff that I put in pay off now is, you know, it’s surreal to, to really think about that it’s 50 hours away, you know, the next chapter of my life.

So I, I’m really excited.

I’ve just been enjoying embracing each moment that has been a part of this whole process, but I’m, I’m ready to go.

So let’s talk about Seattle.

We know you started for the Huskies, so obviously you get to stay in town.

You saw them win the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl MVP left the team, a running back.

What was it like being in the building, and what would that mean to you to get a chance to, to stay in Seattle and, continue your career?

Well, I mean, Seattle was home for me for two years, and, I grew up watching the Seahawks play, like the Legion of Boom era, and, even meeting some of the guys like Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman, like, at Husky games and stuff.

It, it’s definitely been, like, a cool experience.

And I know how Seattle fans are just for the ‘Dogs and, and, and how they are for the Huskies.

It’s even crazier when you’re a Seattle Seahawk.

I saw a lot of articles talking about the connection you made with Sean Payton when you went to Denver.

They, of course, drafted a running back last year, I wanna say similar to you- Mm-hmm but RJ Harvey’s a, you know, he’s a, a tough guy, and had a great season.

Do you see a, a fit for yourself?

And talk to us about Sean and what it was like getting to spend time with him.

Well, definitely.

I mean, when a team has a situation or a plan or something mapped out for you, like, they literally had an idea, mapped out a plan for me if I was to get drafted to Denver Broncos, and that’s ultimately what you want.

You wanna be put in a good situation.

It’s not about when you get drafted, what round.

It’s about what place do you go, where you fit, like what prolongs your career.

‘Cause at the end of the day, NFL stands for not, not for long.

And, being a running back, you know how their career is short and stuff, so ultimately you wanna go to a great situation, a great environment, you know, to ultimately prolong your career, and you ultimately wanna be a part of a good culture.

And when I met Sean Payton and, he really just said, he liked my film, he liked my tape.

The tape don’t lie.

he was excited to have me here.

He asked me about a couple of my teammates.

And just the vibes and stuff that I was getting from the whole Denver Broncos, like, organization while I was there was just more family-oriented, in that they’re all for each other.

Everyone talks to everyone.

It’s not just, “I’m an offensive coach, so I’m gonna talk to offensive guys,” or, “I’m gonna just talk to offense and, you know, offensive coordinator.”

It’s everyone talks to everyone.

Offensive coaches talk to defensive coaches, defensive talk So it’s, like it’s everyone is in this thing together at the end of the day, and that’s really what I enjoyed.

Was there a moment, you went through all these interviews at the combine and, and various other things.

Was there a question that stood out that kinda like threw you off your feet?

You know, “Are you a cat or a dog?”

Or any, any weird questions like that during the process?

My first formal interview with the Jacksonville Jaguars was one that was kinda unique.

When, as soon as I got in there, he said, “You got 30 seconds to pull up on a picture, a picture in your phone that means something to you.”

So I had to pull up my phone and find a picture in 30 seconds and explain why that picture meant so much to me.

What’d you pull out?

I pulled out a picture of me and my dad.

I mean, when I was six years old, my dad was teaching me about ball security.

I was the only kid at the park not playing on the playground.

I was running wind sprints, running around the park, learning how to catch the ball over my shoulder, learning how to flip my hips and catch the ball, learning how to switch the hand, s- switch the ball to the left side if I’m running to the left, switch the ball to the right side, lock it when I run up the middle in traffic.

So my dad was always big, like, “You don’t fumble that football.”

And it all showed up, and it’s still showing up.

So I feel like ball security is job security.

Like, if you don’t fumble that ball, you know, you’re ultimately gonna have a job.

You fumble that ball, that’s when you know your job’s not secure.

So you’re here with Buffalo Wild Wings doing some cool stuff.

We heard that Cam Skattebo requested you specifically, which is crazy ’cause he’s a Sun Devil.

You know, you started at Arizona.

But talk to us about meeting up with him and, and getting to work with him, and what it was like.

It was cool.

It was cool to meet up with, Skatte and, do the Buffalo Wild Thi- Wild Wings thing and stuff.

it wa- it was a really cool experience.

just having the opportunity to work out, work with them was, was just a blessing.

We talked about it, a couple months back, and to finally be living it now is something that, God had in store for us.

But it was great to be around Cam.

You know, he’s full of energy, he’s full of excitement.

And, Cam’s also from, like, my area, a little bit, the NorCal area.

He’s, he’s from that area.

So I knew Cam a while back before, like, college and everything.

we didn’t really talk much, but I knew who he was and stuff.

But, it wa- it was cool to be around him and, people compare us a little bit in, how we run.

He may be seeking contact a little bit more than I do.

But you can see the similarity in the running style, most definitely.

But it was great to be around him, and, shout out to him.

I’m, I’m blessing up that opportunity to be on his stream and, ultimately partner with Buffalo Wild Wings and stuff.

It was a great experience.

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