The decision by the Falcons to take Bijan Robinson has been met with a myriad of controversies. Some believe it is arguably the best first-round selection of the draft. Robinson was the most sure-fire prospect, and he enters an offense that wants to run the ball as much as anyone. Under Arthur Smith, the Texas product has MVP potential.
Others are having trouble seeing the Falcons vision. They have a number of holes on the roster, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, and already featured a 1,000 yard rookie running back in Tyler Allgeier. Taking Bijan Robinson, as good as he is, seems more like a luxury that the Falcons don’t have.
Regardless, Robinson will be the feature back in Atlanta this upcoming season, and while there may be controversy on the outside, the Falcons reportedly had no doubts about who they were taking with their first-round pick.
“You talk about I guess conventional wisdom on certain position that you take and you don’t take, how to build a team,” Kyle Smith, the vice president of player personnel, said via the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “How not to build a team. I think what we’ve always talk about, since we’ve been here, and throughout our careers at other places, there is a million ways to do it.
“The thing that we focus on the most is that, ‘it ain’t about what, it’s about who.’ When it comes to Bijan the player, the skill set, the versatility. The impact as a player and as a person, it was an easy pick. It really was. The amount of work that went into it. The conviction that we had from Day 1 to right on the clock, it was an easy pick.”
Many Falcons fans, who are also Georgia fans, were pleading for the team to take Jalen Carter, who ended up going ninth overall to the Eagles. I get it; Carter is an outstanding talent that might have been the best overall player in the draft. He also plays along the defensive front, which has long been a weak point in Atlanta. However, Carter was never going to be selection, even if the Falcons didn’t decide to go with Robinson.
As Smith noted, it’s not just about the player; it’s about the person as well. The Falcons are trying to build a culture of winners, who will show up everyday with the intention of getting 1% better. That’s not Carter, who was littered with red flags through the entire draft process.
Robinson, on the other hand, is just as good of a human being as he is a player. There won’t be a single fan that doesn’t come love him for who is off the field. His performance on the field will be the icing on the cake.
Robinson isn’t just a running back. He’s a versatile chess piece that will allow Arthur Smith’s creative side to come out even more this season. The the things he will be able to do with Kyle Pitts, Drake London, Bijan Robinson, Jonnu Smith, Tyler Allgeier, Mack Hollins, and Scotty Miller will give defensive coordinators nightmares leading up to Sundays.
“You’re thinking about coach Smith, and you’re thinking about (offensive coordinator) Dave Ragone and how their minds work in terms of utilizing different weapons and skill sets,” Smith said, via the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Then you start getting excited about the potential of (running back) Tyler Allgeier and what he showed. CP (Cordarrelle Patterson), Avery (Williams), Kyle Pitts and Drake London. So, you’re mind starts going because of the different things that Bijan can do. He’s an outstanding runner.”
I’m not foolish enough to believe Bijan Robinson will make the Falcons Super Bowl contenders overnight. But this offense is going to make Sundays fun again, and the culture the Falcons are building will pay off in the long run.
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