Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s Achilles tendon injury has brought former Samford quarterback Chris Oladokun back to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Watson was injured Sunday during the Browns’ 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. To take Watson’s place on its active roster, Cleveland signed quarterback Bailey Zappe from Kansas City’s practice squad.
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After starting the final six games of the 2023 season when the New England Patriots benched former Alabama All-American Mac Jones, Zappe was waived late in the preseason in August as the Patriots overhauled their quarterback room.
Zappe then filled the QB spot on the Chiefs’ practice squad that Oladokun had occupied the previous two seasons, as he received two Super Bowl rings without appearing in a game for Kansas City.
Oladokun was the Chiefs’ leading passer in the preseason, completing 22 of 32 passes for 250 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. But Kansas City kept Carson Wentz to back up Patrick Mahomes and signed Zappe to the practice squad after he was released by New England.
With Zappe gone, the Chiefs brought back Oladokun on Tuesday.
After joining Samford in 2019 from South Florida, Oladokun completed 169 of 272 passes for 2,058 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions and ran for 491 yards and eight touchdowns on 127 carries. In 2020, Oladokun completed 37 of 56 passes for 221 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and ran for 26 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries as Liam Welch emerged as Samford’s No. 1 quarterback.
After transferring to South Dakota State in 2022, Oladokun passed for 3,614 yards and 25 touchdowns and helped the Jackrabbits reach the NCAA FCS semifinals.
Oladokun entered the NFL as a seventh-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. Buried on the depth chart behind veterans Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph and 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett as the Steelers attempted to decide which QB would replace Ben. After Roethlisberger retired, Oladokun was cut during the preseason and Kansas City picked him up for its practice squad.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
