Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson broke out in a huge way last season, more than tripling his rushing touchdowns from the year prior and finishing third among all ballcarriers with 1,456 yards. And ahead of his third pro season, he already has the best players in the NFL on notice. Saquon Barkley won last season’s rushing title as a rare 2,000-yard menace, and he was adamant that there is nobody better in the league than Robinson with his ability to cut into the open field.
That is high praise from the unquestioned top back in the NFL. It is well deserved, though, after Robinson shined at every level on his way to the league. He was the top running back recruit in his class, the 2022 Doak Walker Award winner as the best ballcarrier in college football and now a top-three rusher in the NFL.
“There’s nobody who’s able to cut like Bijan in the NFL,” Barkley said for the NFL Top 100 countdown. “There’s not. You can go argue with your mom about that, I’ll be honest. Trust me — I love myself and I think I have great cuts, and there’s nobody. The way he’s able to — his vision, his agility and he can catch the ball, too. So it’s gonna get scary for a lot of people as he continues to figure it out.”
It took no time at all for Robinson to flourish as a dynamic weapon at the pro level as he narrowly missed the 1,000-yard mark as a rookie and added what is still a career-best 487 yards and four touchdowns as a receiver. He took a step forward on the ground in his sophomore NFL season and caught even more passes (61, up from 58) as one of the top receiving backs in the game.
The Falcons selected Robinson with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, so expectations were always high for the Texas product, particularly in an era where only the most elite ballcarriers come off the board in the first round. That investment paid off over the last two years and seems likely to remain fruitful over the long-term future.
Robinson’s best year to date remains his junior season with the Longhorns. In his most prolific college campaign, Robinson racked up 1,580 yards with 18 touchdowns, and he has yet to top those marks despite playing through a larger single-season sample size in the NFL. The best may be yet to come, however, for the reigning Pro Bowler.
