FLOWERY BRANCH -- The No. 3 rushing offense a year ago just become more marvelous.
The Falcons selected Texas running back Bijan Robinson at No. 8 overall Thursday evening. The NFL draft largely is a value exercise, but where the Falcons find that value sometimes bucks the modern trends.
A tight end in the top four was one thing. Making Chris Lindstrom the NFL’s first $100 million guard was another. Taking a running back in the top 10 is just the latest cannonball into uncharted waters.
What did Kyle Pitts, Lindstrom and Robinson have in common? Aside from their uncommon talents, the Falcons happily bet on the human beings. Robinson, who doesn’t turn 22 until January, is the newest face of this revamped franchise.
“Bijan is a tremendous football player,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday morning. “But the beauty of him is he’s a better human being than he is football player. And that’s saying a lot. I think he’s a tremendous teammate. He’s uplifting. He’s positive. He’s great for your locker room, and he’s great for your community. Just what he does in our community, the way he connects with people. He’s just a really, really good young man.
“Bijan has never had a bad day. Every day he wakes up with a positive attitude. He’s trying to be uplifting to others. It’s so consistent of exactly who he is every single day.”
Robinson, during his introductory press conference Friday, explained how his mindset developed. He estimates he has smiled 85% of his life.
“That’s just something God placed in my life,” he said. “If you meet my family, they’re just the nicest people. It doesn’t matter who you are. Even if you’re mean, they’re going to try to find some way to bring a smile out of you. I think just being with them all my life, even my grandpa, he’s the coolest dude you can talk to. Everybody who talks with him understands who he is as a person as soon as they meet him.
“That’s what he taught me, to have respect for people. Just to be a positive guy. Obviously, when I get on the football field, I’m just trying to run through you. But off the field, it’s important to build those relationships and show people you really care about them.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
As for the on-field qualities, Robinson might be God’s gift to the modern run game. In an age when teams view running backs as expendable, Robinson dropped from the sky as perhaps the position’s best prospect since Adrian Peterson.
Speaking of Peterson, during the 2006 season, Vikings running back Chester Taylor, then 27, ran for 1,216 yards. Yet in the 2007 draft, the Vikings fell in love with Peterson and took him No. 7 overall. They became a fruitful duo, but Peterson could be argued as the best running back in history.
In 2023, a comparable development: The Falcons, despite seeing rookie running back Tyler Allgeier rush for 1,000 yards, opted to take a runner they deemed irresistible.
“They had the onions to make this pick,” ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said. That was a compliment. McShay rated Robinson his No. 2 overall player and declared the Falcons’ selection the best in round one.
Robinson joined a short list of running backs taken in the top 10 during recent drafts. Since 2010, eight backs have earned that distinction: C.J. Spiller (2010), Trent Richardson (2012), Todd Gurley (2015), Ezekiel Elliott (2016), Leonard Fournette (2017), Christian McCaffrey (2017), Saquon Barkley (2018) and Robinson.
“I know the running back position (going) in the top 10 is really rare,” Robinson said. “But it’s pretty cool to be a guy who can share that and show the younger running backs in college football that it’s possible. You just have to do everything the right way and be as effective as you can for your program.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Robinson ran for 3,410 yards and scored 41 touchdowns in his three-year career at Texas. He was considered a future first-round pick throughout his collegiate career.
“He’s a really versatile player,” Sarkisian said of Robinson. “From a running back perspective, he can run between the tackles, he can run on the edge, he can make people miss in tight quarters. The first man never tackles him in the open field. He’s got great route-running ability, tremendous hands. So he ultimately is a three-down back. But as a weapon, not just a three-down back, but as a weapon on all three downs and in the red area.”
The word “generational” is overused in sports. Even in this case, Barkley was considered that type of talent in 2018 coming out of Penn State. But those paid to opine on these unknowns swear Robinson is 1-of-1.
Flip on a YouTube reel, and his feet will sweep you off yours. Robinson makes a neglected position a work of art. He’s Picasso to painting, Spielberg to cinematography. The hope is Robinson becomes the shining standard at the position. A rock star referenced throughout eras the same way that Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders and Eric Dickerson are spoken about today.
Robinson is speedy and powerful. He always falls forward. He hits the hole without hesitation. He eludes defenders like a scatback – perhaps that’s even underselling his 39.4% missed tackle rate – and he can carry the load like Derrick Henry.
Robinson doesn’t collapse on contact. When he sees open field, he envisions himself a gazelle. When he’s running routes, you’ll swear he’s in his natural habitat. The vision and change of direction are exquisite. He’s patient yet urgent. He’s elegant yet violent. He’s graceful yet disrespectful – to the opposition.
“He’s always admired – the two guys who stand out to me that resemble him – I think the short-area quickness and ability to make people miss in tight quarters, you hate comparing a guy to Barry Sanders, but it’s similar,” Sarkisian said. “And just from a playmaker standpoint, Reggie Bush has always been his idol. I don’t know that he has that outright speed of Reggie, but the receiving skills out of the backfield are very similar.”
Indeed, that’s an integral part of the Robinson package. “We feel he is an explosive weapon, a home run hitter however he gets the football in his hands,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. He was regarded as such a prodigious pass catcher that Sarkisian said Robinson had the best hands on the Longhorns.
“Tremendous ball skills, tremendous hands,” Sarkisian said. “An excellent route runner. I think that’s an aspect of his game that’s really going to grow even more, being in the National Football League, what that would look like and creating those matchups. So elite, elite ball skills and a three-down player.”
There are seemingly no red flags here. Robinson’s only criticism is no fault of his own; it’s that his position is too easily replaceable these days. His team knows this. It just spent a fifth-rounder on Allgeier and he ran for 1,000-yards. That tells the world what they think of Robinson. They passed on Georgia’s uber-talented-but-troubled defensive tackle Jalen Carter. They passed on other pass rushers, cornerbacks and offensive linemen whom many would consider wiser investments.
“I think he is a valuable football player,” Smith said. “The impact you can have on your team, that’s the value.”
The team that preaches the exhausted cliché of “best player available” again showed us that’s not just a catchphrase. After taking a tight end and receiver in the top 10, they took a running back. But they feel this is a foundational player. Someone who’s transformative at his position. Someone who will forever be revered in Falcons lore.
That’s how unique Robinson is. If he fails to live up to such hype, the pick was a waste. But Robinson seems as sure as his own hands. By value, this pick is debatable. By talent, it’s undeniable. And Robinson’s addition only heightens the pressure on this ailing franchise to return to relevance.
“The impact he has on winning is what we’re really excited about,” Smith said. The Falcons opted to improve their greatest strength. Now they expect Robinson to keep it one.
“I think it’s a great fit,” Sarkisian said. “I’ve got obviously a lot of respect for the whole organization and (owner) Arthur Blank, Arthur Smith and (general manager) Terry (Fontenot), and just what they do and how they’re trying to build it. And get that guy (Robinson) in that situation, I think for an organization that’s ready to take that next step, I think they added an awesome piece to the puzzle.”
AJC’S 2023 POSITION-BY-POSITION DRAFT SERIES
WIDE RECEIVERS – Past few drafts have spoiled NFL teams looking for wide receivers | Top 10 WRs
RUNNING BACKS – Running backs Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs may have to wait to hear their names called | Top 10 RBs
TIGHT ENDS – Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer heads a dee TE class | Top 10 TEs
QUARTERBACKS – Bryce Young’s small stature no longer an issue in the NFL | Top 10 QBs
OFFENSIVE LINE – Skoronski’s short arm length being scrutinized for left tackle | Top 5 C,G, &OTs
DEFENSIVE LINE – Is Jalen Carter the real deal or a potential bust? | Top 5 DTs, DEs
LINEBACKERS – Dutchtown’s Will Anderson expected to go in the top 5 of NFL draft | Top LBs
CORNERBACKS – Former Georgia standout Kelee Ringo one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL draft | Top CBs
SAFETIES – Alabama’s Brian Branch, Jordan Battle are top safeties in the NFL draft | Top FS/SS
SPECIAL TEAMS – Michigan’s Jake Moody hopes to kick way to NFL draft | Top STs
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