George Holani shines in Seahawks first preseason game of 2025

The Seattle Seahawks tied the Las Vegas Raiders Thursday night, 23-23, in each team’s first preseason game of the year. Second-year running back George Holani made his mark in the contest, hoping to earn a roster spot.

Many people saw former Seahawks and Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch give a little shove to Holani after a touchdown run in the first quarter, disregarding how impressive the 24-yard carry was.

Despite lining up against a stacked box with eight players up by the line of scrimmage, Holani made a big play happen on a third-down play by bouncing the handoff outside and using his speed to not only get around the edge, but also just barely beat each defender to the endzone.

Holani finished the night with seven carries for 61 yards, averaging 8.7 yards per carry. The 25-year-old added on a tackle on special teams, much to the delight of head coach Mike Macdonald.

“I feel like we don’t talk about [Holani] enough,” Macdonald said. “He’s just kind of the guy that does everything right all the time. It’s great to see him have success because of how hard he works. You saw the runs, but the kickoff tackle was a big play for us. He’s a pretty well-rounded player.”

Holani had a small role with Seattle in 2024, playing in just five offensive snaps and tallying three rushes for 10 yards, while adding on 36 special teams snaps and recording one tackle.

Even with his small sample size at the NFL level, Holani has shown he can thrive in a bigger role. In college with Boise State, the young running back had two seasons with over 1,000 yards and 10 or more touchdowns on the ground.

With running backs Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonet in the building, playing time may be hard to come by for Holani, but big preseason performances like Thursday’s and success on special teams could do enough to earn a bigger role.