Tag: Qadree Ollison

Saints sign a new fullback, but he isn’t new to their coaching staff

The Saints signed a new fullback, but he isn’t new to their coaching staff. Meet Zander Horvath:

The New Orleans Saints signed a new fullback, but he isn’t new to their coaching staff. Meet Zander Horvath, formerly of Purdue, whose addition was announced on Thursday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire.

Horvath, 25, played college football at Purdue before turning pro with the Los Angeles Chargers, who picked him in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft. He measured out exceptionally well in the pre-draft process with a 9.83 Relative Athletic Score (a metric which often lines up with attributes the Saints value). He weighed in at 6-foot-2 and 228 pounds but has been listed at 232 and 235 with different teams.

Former Chargers running backs coach Derrick Foster worked with him closely in L.A., so there’s an obvious connection with Foster holding the same position on staff these days in New Orleans. Horvath was waived during roster cuts last August and briefly landed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Chargers brought him back to their practice squad to close out the season. He wasn’t re-signed after that.

He wasn’t the only player the Saints tried out on Thursday; the wire also reports 232-pound running back Qadree Ollison as a participant. He’s a former Atlanta Falcons draft pick (fifth round in 2019) who was teammates with Horvath on the Steelers for a few months last season. The Saints must have liked what they saw from Horvath better.

This might mean the end of the road for Adam Prentice. The incumbent Saints fullback is a restricted free agent but he’s coming off a down year with dropped passes, blown blocking assignments, and a very unfortunate fumble. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is going to be asking different things of his fullback than Pete Carmichael asked of Prentice last season, so they might look for someone else to push Horvath for the job in training camp.

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Jaguars 2023 cuts tracker: QB Nathan Rourke among waived players

The Jaguars have until 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday to cut their roster down to 53 players. We’ll track every move right here:

The Jacksonville Jaguars have until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET to trim their 90-man roster to 53 players ahead of the 2023 regular season.

That could be especially difficult for the team this year after accumulating talent that made the Jaguars owners of one of the NFL’s deeper rosters from top to bottom. The depth of the team could also mean that the Jaguars negotiate a trade or two before the Tuesday deadline:

Right here we’ll keep track of every Jaguars player who gets released, waived, or traded before the Tuesday afternoon:

 

Jaguars QB Nathan Rourke evaded multiple tackles and threw a spectacular touchdown while falling

Nathan Rourke, are you serious?!?!

Even though this is the preseason, nobody told Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Nathan Rourke that he couldn’t pull off one of the coolest plays you’re likely to see this fall.

Late into the fourth quarter of the team’s Saturday road bout with the Dallas Cowboys, Rourke, a CFL alum, threw one of the most bewildering touchdowns you could imagine.

On the play, Rourke shrugged off multiple Cowboys defenders and tossed a laser to the end zone as he was falling down. Jaguars running back Qadree Ollison was right there to catch it and walk right into the end zone for the absolutely spectacular score.

This looks like something Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes would do. It’s absolute wizardry. Mahomes was even impressed with Rourke’s stellar play.

It remains to be seen if the Jaguars will keep three quarterbacks alongside starter Trevor Lawrence and veteran reserve C.J. Beathard, but a play like this virtually guarantees that either Jacksonville or another NFL team will want someone like Rourke in the locker room.

This stellar play is a great reminder that even NFL preseason games can light off some fantastic fireworks.

Jaguars 2023 roster review: RB Qadree Ollison

Making the Jaguars’ roster will be a tall task for former Falcons running back Qadree Ollison.

The brunt of the offseason is in the books and training camp is still off on the horizon. Join us in the NFL’s dead zone with a player-by-player review of the Jaguars roster ahead of the 2023 season.

Four years ago, it seemed the Atlanta Falcons stumbled upon a hidden gem in fifth-round running back Qadree Ollison. The then-rookie played in just six games and never had more than eight rushing attempts, but maximized his opportunities by scoring a touchdown in four of those appearances.

That momentum didn’t carry into future seasons in Atlanta, though. He touched the ball just once in 2020, scored a touchdown in 2021, and was cut by the team at the end of preseason in 2022. After spending most of last season on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad, Ollison was scooped up by the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this year.

Finding a role with the Jaguars will likely prove to be tough, though.

Shortly after Jacksonville added Ollison to the backfield, the team signed D’Ernest Johnson in free agency and Tank Bigsby in the 2023 NFL draft.

Contract (2023): $1.08 million base salary, $940,000 cap hit.

Acquired: Jaguars signed Ollison as a free agent on Feb. 14, 2023.

PFF grades: 

  • 60.0 (2022 – DAL)
  • 56.6 (2021 – ATL)
  • 37.5 (2020 – ATL)
  • 55.6 (2019 – ATL)

Statistics:

  • Zero touches (2022)
  • 105 rushing yards, one touchdown, four receptions, 12 receiving yards (2021)
  • Three rushing yards (2020)
  • 50 rushing yards, four touchdowns, one reception, seven receiving yards (2019)

Highlight:

Quote: “You know, I’ve always been a bigger, stronger guy and having that quickness to add to that is something I worked on, for sure.” – Ollison

Calvin Ridley (No. 0) Travis Etienne Jr. (No. 1) Rayshawn Jenkins (No. 2) C.J. Beathard (No. 3) Tank Bigsby (No. 4) Andre Cisco (No. 5)
Chris Claybrooks (No. 6) Zay Jones (No. 7) Logan Cooke (No. 9) Parker Washington (No. 11) James McCourt (No. 12) Christian Kirk (No. 13)
Kendric Pryor (No. 14) Tim Jones (No. 15) Trevor Lawrence (No. 16) Evan Engram (No. 17) Nathan Rourke (No. 18) Sammis Reyes (No. 19)
Daniel Thomas (No. 20) Latavious Brini (No. 21) JaMycal Hasty (No. 22) Foyesade Oluokun (No. 23) Snoop Conner (No. 24) D’Ernest Johnson (No. 25)
Antonio Johnson (No. 26) Divaad Wilson (No. 27) Tevaughn Campbell (No. 29) Montaric Brown (No. 30) Darious Williams (No. 31) Tyson Campbell (No. 32)
Devin Lloyd (No. 33) Gregory Junior (No. 34) Ayo Oyelola (No. 35) Christian Braswell (No. 36) Tre Herndon (No. 37) Qadree Ollison (No. 38)
Jamal Agnew (No. 39) Erick Hallett (No. 40) Josh Allen (No. 41) Andrew Wingard (No. 42) Kaleb Hayes (No. 43) Derek Parish (No. 43)
Travon Walker (No. 44) K’Lavon Chaisson (No. 45) Ross Matiscik (No. 46) De’Shaan Dixon (No. 47) Chad Muma (No. 48) Leonard Taylor (No. 49)
Shaquille Quarterman (No. 50) Ventrell Miller (No. 51) DaVon Hamilton (No. 52) Willie Taylor III (No. 53) DJ Coleman (No. 54) Dequan Jackson (No. 55)
Yasir Abdullah (No. 56) Caleb Johnson (No. 57) Raymond Vohasek (No. 59) Darryl Williams (No. 60) Samuel Jackson (No. 62) Coy Cronk (No. 64)
Chandler Brewer (No. 67) Brandon Scherff (No. 68) Tyler Shatley (No. 69) Cole Van Lanen (No. 70) Walker Little (No. 72) Blake Hance (No. 73)
Cam Robinson (No. 74) Cooper Hodges (No. 75) Anton Harrison (No. 76) Josh Wells (No. 77) Ben Bartch (No. 78) Luke Fortner (No. 79)
Kevin Austin Jr. (No. 80) Seth Williams (No. 81) Elijah Cooks (No. 84) Brenton Strange (No. 85) Gerrit Prince (No. 86) Jaray Jenkins (No. 87)
Oliver Martin (No. 88) Luke Farrell (No. 89) Henry Mondeaux (No. 90) Jordan Smith (No. 92) Tyler Lacy (No. 93) Folorunso Fatukasi (No. 94)
Roy Robertson-Harris (No. 95) Adam Gotsis (No. 96) Nick Thurman (No. 97) Michael Dogbe (No. 98) Jeremiah Ledbetter (No. 99) Brandon McManus
Jacob Harris

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Ex-Falcons RB Qadree Ollison signs with Jaguars

Former #Falcons RB Qadree Ollison has signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars

Former Falcons running back Qadree Ollison signed a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday. Ollison, 26, was selected by Atlanta in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft.

Over his three-year career with the Falcons, Ollison rushed for 158 yards and five touchdowns on 3.6 yards per carry. After being released by Atlanta during training camp last year, Ollison signed with the Dallas Cowboys but didn’t register a single carry in the three games he was active for.

Ollison now joins a Jaguars team that’s coming off an AFC South championship. The former Pittsburgh standout will look to carve out a role on his third NFL team in 2023.

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Jaguars add free agent RB Qadree Ollison

The Jaguars added a little more competition at running back.

Free agency will truly begin next month when the 2023 league year begins, but the Jacksonville Jaguars dipped their toes into those waters Monday when they signed running back Qadree Ollison.

Ollison, 26, hit free agency a little early after his practice squad contract with the Dallas Cowboys expired and he wasn’t brought back by the team with a Reserve/Futures deal. That made him eligible to sign with another team immediately, so the Jaguars scooped him up.

Prior to his time on the Cowboys’ practice squad, Ollison was picked by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

In three seasons with the Falcons, Ollison appeared in 19 games and recorded 44 carries for 158 yards with five touchdowns. Despite carrying the ball just 22 times as a rookie, Ollison led Atlanta in rushing touchdowns that season with four.

Ollison was signed to the Cowboys’ practice squad after he was waived at the end of the Falcons’ training camp in 2022. While he was elevated to the active roster for three games, Ollison saw only two offensive snaps in Dallas and mostly contributed on special teams in those games.

The Jaguars entered the 2022 season with a duo of backs, James Robinson and Travis Etienne Jr., but elected to trade Robinson to the New York Jets in October. Late in the season, Jacksonville gave more snaps to backup running back JaMycal Hasty.

Ex-Falcons RB, CFL offensive lineman round out Cowboys practice squad

Qadree Ollison gained 158 yards over 3 years in Atlanta; Dakoda Shepley was Saskatchewan’s top rookie in 2019. Both joined Dallas Thursday. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Fifteen of the 17 players who make up the now-complete Cowboys practice squad are familiar faces, guys who spent training camp with the team and, in some cases, have contributed heavily on past gamedays or even hold franchise records.

But two of the practice squadders are brand new to the organization, with the newest signings taking place on Thursday.

Running back Qadree Ollison is an ex-Atlanta Falcon, having been drafted in the fifth round in 2019. He had won ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors at Pitt in 2015 and finished his collegiate career with 2,859 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns for the Panthers.

The New York native saw limited action as a rookie while current Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was still head coach in Atlanta. He logged 22 carries for 50 yards and four touchdowns over eight game appearances. He got just 22 more carries over the next two seasons, racking up 108 yards and one more score. He was in camp with the Falcons this summer, lasting until final cutdowns earlier this week.

Ollison will join undrafted free agent Malik Davis as the other practice squad running back.

Officially listed by the team as a tackle, Dakoda Shepley began his pro career with the New York Jets, signing as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and going through camp with the club. But the Canadian native who attended the University of British Columbia had also been drafted- fifth overall- by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL Draft that same year. He was the team’s Most Outstanding Rookie in 2019 and was looking at a promising return when COVID-19 canceled the CFL’s 2020 season.

After opting out of his CFL contract, Shepley spent 2020 with the San Francisco 49ers, mostly on the practice squad. The 6-foot-5-inch, 290-pounder was claimed off waivers by Seattle the next season and got into eight games for the Seahawks. He, too, was cut just this week.

(Fun fact: Shepley has the distinction of being the only Cowboys player to have an uncredited cameo appearance in the 2018 feature film Deadpool 2, where he played “Omega Red Prisoner.”)

Isaac Alarcón, Aviante Collins, and center Alec Lindstrom are the other offensive linemen on the Cowboys practice squad.

Both Ollison and Shepley signed their contracts in time to join the team for the final practice of the week.

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Falcons to release RB Qadree Ollison, per report

The Atlanta Falcons released a handful of players on Tuesday morning, including running back Qadree Ollison.

The Atlanta Falcons released a handful of players on Tuesday morning, including running back Qadree Ollison, according to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson.

Ollison, 25, was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft out of Pittsburgh. Appearing in 19 career games, Ollison has rushed for 158 yards and five touchdowns for the Falcons since 2019.

Ollison was re-signed to a one-year deal over the offseason but running back is among the team’s most crowded positions. Caleb Huntley was also released this morning, along with OL Justin Shaffer, WR Stanley Berryhill and WR Frank Darby.

The Falcons must trim their roster down to 53 players by today’s 4 p.m. ET deadline.

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Falcons re-sign RB Qadree Ollison to one-year deal

Ollison, 25, was selected by the Falcons in the fifth round of the 2019 draft out of Pittsburgh.

The Atlanta Falcons have re-signed running back Qadree Ollison to a one-deal, the team announced on Monday.

Ollison, 25, was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 draft by the Falcons out of Pittsburgh. After re-signing Cordarrelle Patterson and signing Damien Williams, it didn’t appear the team would retain Ollison, who was an exclusive rights free agent.

Over his three-year career with the Falcons, Ollison has appeared in 19 games. In 2021, he rushed for 105 yards on 12 attempts (5.0 yards per carry) with a touchdown over eight games.

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9 takeaways: Falcons’ 4th-down failures prove costly vs. 49ers

Nine takeaways from the Falcons’ Week 15 showdown in San Francisco.

Things looked promising early for the Falcons, but the offense stalled out in the red zone and the defense couldn’t get stops late during Sunday’s 31-13 loss to the 49ers.

Atlanta had three turnovers on downs in scoring range, and allowed Jimmy Garoppolo to complete 18 of 23 passes for 235 yards, one touchdown and zero turnovers.

Here are nine takeaways from Sunday’s game in San Francisco.