PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers rounded out their practice squad by adding a former Pitt Panther on Saturday.
Three were signed two days before practice starts for the regular season. A defensive back and a pair of running backs, one is former Panther Oadree Ollison. The 26-year-old was the Falcons fifth-round pick in 2019. He played 19 games in three seasons with Atlanta with 44 carries for 158 yards and five touchdowns, five receptions for 19 yards. Of his 2021 carries, a third of them resulted in first downs for the 6'1", 232 pounder. Ollison played three games with Dallas last year playing 43% of the special teams reps.
Ollison was twice Second Team All-ACC with the Panthers including being named the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2015 finishing with 1,121 yards and 11 touchdowns. The New York native rushed for 1,213 yards (second in ACC) his senior season averaging 6.25 yards per carry. He finished with 2,859 career rushing yards (seventh in Pitt history) and 29 touchdowns (sixth in Pitt history).
Zander Horvath is the other tailback. The 24-year-old was the Chargers seventh round pick last year and started a pair of the 15 games he played in with four rushes for eight yards and five receptions for eight yards and two touchdowns. The 6''3", 230-pound Indiana native rushed for 1,181 yards and eight touchdowns in four seasons at Purdue.
Tariq Carpenter is a large defensive back, 6'4", 225 pounds. Green Bay's seventh round pick in 2022 he played in 14 games last season with 16 snaps on defense, 122 on special teams. He was sixth on the team in special teams tackles. The safety started 41 of 52 games at Georgia Tech with 223 tackles, 22 passes defended, 6.5 TFL, three forced fumbles and four interceptions.
Those signings fill the practice squad at 16.
