Getty Qadree Ollison #30 of the Atlanta Falcons.
The Atlanta Falcons have re-signed running back Qadree Ollison to a one-year deal, the team announced on Monday, March, 28.
“Ay, what’s up Rise Up nation?,” Ollison said in a video on Twitter following his re-signing. Man, excited to be coming back for another year, for my fourth year. Excited to get back to work going into year four. Ay, man, let’s go! Rise UP! Let’s get it!”
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Ollison Is the Falcons’ Youngest Back
Ollison, 25, is the youngest of the backfield group that consists of Cordarelle Patterson (31), Mike Davis (29) and Damien Williams (29).
The Falcons used a fifth-round pick on Ollison in the 2019 NFL Draft. Since then, the Pittsburgh product has spent the last three years as a backup running back on the Falcons’ 53-man roster. While he has shown some flashes of talent, he has not been consistent enough to make his way up the depth chart.
After spending a majority of the 2021 season on the practice squad, Ollison was bumped to the active roster during the second half of the season. In eight games, he ran for 105 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown.
In 19 career games with Atlanta thus far, Ollison has rushed 44 times for 158 yards and five touchdowns.
With the Falcons bringing back Ollison, the Falcons have now had four backs heading into the 2022 draft, which might cancel out the team adding another with one of their nine draft picks––unless they want to beef up the competition for Ollison.
Ollison Re-Joins His “Big Bro”
One of Ollison’s shining moments came in the Falcons’ 25-0 loss to the New England Patriots in Week 11 last season.
With No.1 running back Cordarelle Patterson ruled out with an injury, Ollison was elevated to the active roster for the second time that season, leaving it up to him, Mike Davis and Wayne Gallman to get the job done.
However, when a player is elevated, especially as a third-stringer like Ollison, you never know if you will actually see the field or not, but nonetheless, Ollison was prepared.
“With CP not being able to go, it was an opportunity for a lot of people out there,” Ollison said after the game, via AtlantaFalcons.com. “So I definitely wanted to take advantage of that opportunity and really seize that opportunity. I definitely was excited.”
Patterson gave him some advice before the Thursday Night kickoff.
“That’s my big bro. He really took me under his wing,” Ollison said. “He pretty much told me it was just football, you know, at the end of the day, it’s what we’ve been doing our whole lives, don’t make it, really bigger than what it is, you know, it’s just football.”
Ollison took his words to heart and led the team in rushing with nine carries for 34 yards. While those numbers are typically nothing to gloat over, they were that day as Ollison found some momentum when the rest of the team was struggling.
Last week, the Falcons re-signed Patterson to a two-year, $10.5 million deal, which means he’ll be around to push and guide Ollison for another season or two.
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