Getty Qadree Ollison #30 of the Atlanta Falcons.
The Atlanta Falcons surprised fans by cutting promising third-year running Qadree Ollison back last week and signing veteran Wayne Gallman in his place, but they did so for good reason.
“It’s obviously not the end of the road for Qadree,” head coach Arthur Smith said during Monday’s press conference, via SI. “Wayne was a guy we thought we want to want to bring in here that maybe can add something for us, certainly out of the backfield, or more importantly on fourth down.”
“So that was a big, big part of it. Not to say that he won’t at some point get carries, and not to say that you can’t put somebody up on practice squad that can play here on this Sunday so all the options on the table. That was part of the reason we want to bring Gallman in here.”
Smith meant what he said about it not being the end of the road for Ollison and the Falcons added the 24-year-old to the team’s practice squad on Tuesday.
We have signed Qadree Ollison to the practice squad and released Sam Jones from the practice squad.
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Falcons Cut OL Sam Jones
Ollison, a former fifth-round draft selection in 2019, spent the last two years as a backup running back on the Falcons’ 53-man roster. He showed some flashes of talent but was never consistent enough to make his way up the depth chart. However, many insiders believed that Ollison was finally going to get more touches as Mike Davis’s primary backup, instead, that job will be up to Cordarelle Patterson and Gallman.
In 11 career games with Atlanta thus far, Ollison has rushed 23 times for 53 yards and four touchdowns. We’ll see if the Falcons bring him back to the practice squad.
In a corresponding move to make room for Ollison again, the Falcons released offensive lineman Sam Jones.
Jones was originally drafted by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-5, 305-pound lineman saw action in five games with the Broncos as a rookie and has also had short stints with the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts since then.
Gallman Adds More Experience to the Backfield
This addition of Gallamn adds more veteran experience to the Falcons’ backfield.
In case of an injury, Gallman is used to stepping up in a prominent role. Just last season he was forced to step up for the New York Giants after they lost Saquon Barkley to a torn ACL. Gallman recorded a career-high of 682 rushing yards and 6 rushing touchdowns on 4.6 yards per carry as the Giants’ lead back. In four seasons, the former fourth-round pick has totaled 338 career carries and 80 receptions.
Gallman became a free agent at the end of last season and the San Francisco 49ers picked him up for the offseason but he failed to make the final roster. He certainly adds more promising stability to an Atlanta backfield that’s been lackluster for years and this gives Ollison more reason to work harder.
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