A. J. Ouellette
{{Short description|American gridiron football player (born 1995)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = A. J. Ouellette
| image = 2023, 34, A. J. Ouellette (3).jpg
| caption = Ouellette with the Toronto Argonauts in 2023
| number = 45
| current_team = Saskatchewan Roughriders
| position = Running back
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1995|7|20}}
| birth_place = Covington, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 10
| weight_lb = 210
| high_school = Covington
| college = Ohio
| undraftedyear = 2019
| pastteams =
- New Orleans Saints ({{NFL Year|2019}})*
- Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|2019}})*
- Toronto Argonauts ({{CFL Year|2019}}–{{CFL Year|2023}})
- Saskatchewan Roughriders ({{CFL Year|2024}}–present)
| status = Active
| cflstatus = American
| highlights =
- Grey Cup champion (2022)
- 2× CFL East All-Star (2022, 2023)
- First-team All-MAC (2018)
- Second-team All-MAC (2017)
| cflstatseason = 2023
| cflstatlabel1 = Games played
| cflstatvalue1 = 37
| cflstatlabel2 = Rushing attempts
| cflstatvalue2 = 322
| cflstatlabel3 = Rushing yards
| cflstatvalue3 = 1,782
| cflstatlabel4 = Rushing touchdowns
| cflstatvalue4 = 10
| cfl = aj-ouellette/165219
}}
A. J. Ouellette (born July 20, 1995) is an American{{cite web | url=https://torontosun.com/sports/football/cfl/toronto-argonauts/family-roots-in-small-town-ohio-define-argos-ouellette | title=Family roots in small-town Ohio define Argos' Ouellette | publisher=Toronto Sun | work=Toronto Sun | date=2021-05-21 | accessdate=21 September 2023 | author=Zicarelli, Frank}} professional football running back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He has previously played for the Toronto Argonauts.
College career
Ouellette played college football for the Ohio Bobcats from 2014 to 2018 while using a medical redshirt season in 2016 after suffering an injury in his first game that year.{{Cite web|url=https://ohiobobcats.com/sports/football/roster/a-j--ouellette/494 |title=A.J. Ouellette |publisher=Ohio Bobcats |access-date=September 11, 2022}} He finished his collegiate career having played in 50 games where he had 719 carries for 3,833 yards and 32 rushing touchdowns and 64 receptions for 516 yards and six receiving touchdowns.
=Awards and recognition=
- Two time Team captain.
- Rushed for 1,000 yards in 2017 and 2018.
- Second Team All-MAC Offense 2017.
- Honored by the touchdown Club of Columbus, 2015.
- In 2015 lead team in rush attempts and rushing yards.
- in 2014 was two-time MAC East Offensive Player of the Week (Nov. 6 and 24).
- DXL Frisco Bowl Offensive MVP.
=College statistics=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||||||
| colspan="16" style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Ohio Bobcats}}" | Ohio Bobcats | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| colspan=3| | colspan=4| Rushing | colspan=4|Receiving | ||||||||
| Year | Team | GP | Att | Yards | Avg | TDs | Rec | Yards | Avg | TDs |
| 2014 || Ohio
| 10 || 160 || 785 || 4.9 || 7 || 21 || 133 || 6.3 || 3 | ||||||||||
| 2015 || Ohio
| 13 || 151 || 691 || 4.5 || 6 || 12 || 74 || 6.2 || 0 | ||||||||||
| 2016 || Ohio
| 1 || 3 || 45 || 15.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||
| 2017 || Ohio
| 13 || 192 || 1,006 || 5.2 || 7 || 10 || 97 || 9.7 || 1 | ||||||||||
| 2018 || Ohio
| 13 || 213 || 1,306 || 6.1 || 12 || 21 || 212 || 10.1 || 2 | ||||||||||
| style="background:#555; font-weight:bold; color:white;"
| colspan=2 | College totals | 50 | 719 | 3,833 | 5.3 | 32 | 64 | 516 | 10.0 | 6 |
Professional career
=New Orleans Saints=
In May 2019, Ouellette signed with the New Orleans Saints.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tdn-net.com/sports/63245/ouellette-signs-free-agent-contract-with-new-orleans-saints|title=Ouellette signs free agent contract with New Orleans Saints - Troy Daily News|date=May 13, 2019|website=www.tdn-net.com}} New Orleans waived Ouellette on May 28, 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://saintswire.usatoday.com/2019/05/28/saints-sign-ravens-javorius-allen-free-agent-a-j-ouellette/|title=Saints sign former Ravens RB Javorius Allen, waive two players|date=May 28, 2019}}
=Cleveland Browns=
On July 27, 2019, Ouellette signed with the Cleveland Browns.{{Cite web|url=https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-sign-rb-a-j-ouellette |title=Browns sign RB A.J. Ouellette |publisher=Cleveland Browns |date=July 27, 2019}} However, he was waived by Cleveland on August 31, 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-cut-roster-to-53-players?campaign=sf:fanshare:facebook|title=Browns cut roster to 53 players|website=www.clevelandbrowns.com}}
=Toronto Argonauts=
On September 17, 2019, it was announced that Ouellette had signed with the Toronto Argonauts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.argonauts.ca/2019/09/17/argos-add-six-extended-pr/ |title=Argos Add Six to Expanded PR |publisher=Toronto Argonauts |date=September 17, 2019}} He played in his first career game on October 18, 2019, against the Montreal Alouettes where he had four carries for 20 yards.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/players/a-j-ouellette/165219/ |title=A. J. Ouellette |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=February 15, 2024}} In the following game, he recorded his first career touchdown on a 15-yard pass from Dakota Prukop in a game against the Ottawa Redblacks on October 26, 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/games/2636/ottawa-redblacks-vs-toronto-argonauts/#playbyplay |title=Ottawa Redblacks vs Toronto Argonauts |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=September 11, 2022}} He played in three regular season games in 2019 where he had 23 carries for 114 yards and five receptions for 39 yards and one touchdown.
Ouellette did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season, but signed a contract extension with the Argonauts on December 15, 2020.{{cite news |title=Argos ink DB Boateng, five others to extension; release OL Richards |url=https://www.cfl.ca/2020/12/15/argos-ink-db-boateng-five-others-extension-release-ol-richards/ |website=CFL.ca |date=December 15, 2020 |accessdate=December 17, 2020}} In 2021, he played in just six games while spending time on the injured list and practice roster, but recorded 23 carries for 143 yards.{{Cite web|url=https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_CFL_Gm_Notes_66_Ham_at_Tor_EF.pdf |title=Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs Toronto Argonauts Game Notes |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=September 11, 2022}} Ouellette made his post-season debut, on December 5, 2021, after playing in the East Final where he had four carries for eight yards in the loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Ouellette began the 2022 season on the injured list and played in just three of the team's first eight games as the back up running back.{{Cite web|url=https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022_CFL_Gm_Notes_62_Ott_vs_Tor.pdf |title=Ottawa Redblacks vs Toronto Argonauts Game Notes |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=September 11, 2022}} However, following a season-ending injury to the team's starting running back, Andrew Harris, Ouellette became the team's starting running back on August 20, 2022, where he had six carries for 18 yards and seven catches for 92 yards against the Calgary Stampeders. He scored his first career rushing touchdown on September 10, 2022, in the victory over the Ottawa Redblacks. Ouellette finished the season having played in 13 regular season games carrying the ball 98 times for 516 yards with two touchdowns. He also caught 38 passes for 350 yards and a score. On February 11, 2023, Ouellette and the Argos agree to a contract extension.{{Cite web |author=TSN ca Staff |date=2023-02-11 |title=Toronto Argonauts re-sign running back A.J. Ouellette |url=https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/toronto-argonauts-re-sign-running-back-a-j-ouellette-1.1918103 |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=TSN |language=en-CA}}
In 2023, Ouellette entered the season as the starting running back as Harris was relegated to backup status. Ouellette played in 15 games, sitting out three as the Argonauts clinched the division early, where he recorded 178 carries for 1,009 yards and eight touchdowns along with 16 catches for 163 yards and two touchdowns. He was named a CFL East All-Star for the second consecutive season.{{cite web|title=In the Stars: 2023 Division All-Stars unveiled |url=https://www.cfl.ca/2023/11/02/in-the-stars-2023-division-all-stars-unveiled/ |publisher=Canadian Football League | date=November 2, 2023}} In the following off-season, he became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 13, 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/fa24/ |title=Official 2024 Free Agent Tracker |publisher=Canadian Football League |access-date=February 14, 2024}}
= Saskatchewan Roughriders =
On February 13, 2024, the Saskatchewan Roughriders announced that Ouellette had signed a two-year contract with the team.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-13 |title=He's worthy! Running back A.J. Ouellette to thunder out of the Rider backfield in 2024 |url=https://www.riderville.com/2024/02/13/224156/ |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=Saskatchewan Roughriders |language=en}}
Professional statistics
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="5"| Rushing ! colspan="5"| Receiving ! colspan="2"| Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| {{abbr|GP|Games played}} | {{abbr|GS|Games started}} | {{abbr|Att|Rush attempts}} | {{abbr|Yds|Rushing yards}} | {{abbr|Avg|Average yards per carry}} | {{abbr|Lng|Longest rush}} | {{abbr|TD|Rushing touchdowns}} | {{abbr|Rec|Receptions}} | {{abbr|Yds|Receiving yards}} | {{abbr|Avg|Average yards per reception}} | {{abbr|Lng|Longest reception}} | {{abbr|TD|Receiving touchdowns}} | {{abbr|Fum|Fumbles}} | {{abbr|Lost|Fumbles lost}} |
| 2019 | TOR
| 3 || 2 || 23 || 114 || 5.0 || 36 || 0 || 5 || 39 || 7.8 || 15 || 1 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2020 | TOR
| colspan="14" | Season cancelled | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | TOR
| 6 || 1 || 23 || 143 || 6.2 || 30 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | TOR
| 13 || 9 || 98 || 516 || 5.3 || 34 || 2 || 38 || 350 || 9.2 || 28 || 1 || 1 || 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | TOR
| 15 || 15 || 178 || 1,009 || 5.7 || 42 || 8 || 16 || 163 || 10.2 || 28 || 2 || NA || NA | ||||||||||||
| colspan="2"|[https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-CFL-Guide-PDF-for-site.pdf Career]
! 37 || 27 || 322 || 1,782 || 5.5 || 42 || 10 || 59 || 552 || 9.4 || 28 || 4 || 1 || 1 |
Personal life
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.riderville.com/players/aj-ouellette/165219/ Saskatchewan Roughriders bio]
- [https://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/fball/2018-19/bios/ouellette_a.j._aka1 Ohio Bobcats football bio]
{{Saskatchewan Roughriders roster navbox}}
{{109th Grey Cup}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouellette, Aj}}
Category:American football running backs
Category:Canadian football running backs
Category:Players of American football from Ohio
Category:Players of Canadian football from Ohio
Category:Ohio Bobcats football players
Category:Saskatchewan Roughriders players
Category:Toronto Argonauts players