Former Pitt running back Qadree Ollison will not participate in this Saturday’s East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Florida, due to the ankle injury he suffered in the first half of Pitt’s Sun Bowl loss to Stanford, as first reported by the Niagara Gazette.
Ollison will continue to rehabilitate his injury and has been invited to perform at the 2019 NFL Combine in Indianapolis from Feb. 26 to March 4.
He finished his Pitt career with 2,859 yards, seventh all-time in program history, and also scored 32 career touchdowns.
Ollison was a 1,000-yard rusher as a freshman in 2015, when he was surprise fill-in for injured star James Conner. Ollison backed up Conner in 2016 and then split time between halfback and fullback in 2017 to fill in for injured starting fullback George Aston.
As a senior, Ollison had his best season, rushing for 1,213 yards on 194 carries for a career-best 6.3 yards per carry — all while splitting time with fellow senior Darrin Hall. The tandem became the first Pitt running back duo to ever rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
Both Ollison and Hall chose to participate in the Sun Bowl in their final game as Panthers and were expected to play together in the Shrine Game at Tropicana Field, but Ollison’s sprained ankle cut his Pitt career short and has delayed the start of his pro scouting process.
Hall and offensive lineman Alex Bookser are both expected to represent Pitt in the Shrine Game. Aston will play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on Saturday, while offensive lineman Connor Dintino, defensive end Dewayne Hendrix and linebacker Elijah Zeise all played in the Tropical Bowl on Sunday.
Ollison is the first Pitt senior to have confirmed their invitation to the combine. Pitt had seven players invited to the combine in 2018 and three of them were selected in the 2018 NFL Draft.
He is ranked as the No. 28 running back in this year’s draft class by WalterFootball.com, with a sixth round through UDFA grade.
