During a season in which the Atlanta Falcons are playoff hopefuls in the NFC South, the team’s biggest storyline isn’t about their attempts to develop quarterback Desmond Ridder or a strong defense that has underlined the first half of their campaign.
Atlanta’s offensive coaching staff has three recent top-10 picks at its disposal and, despite flashes of excellence, prefers to lean on role players at a disproportionate rate.
Backup tight end Jonnu Smith has two more catches, 33 more yards, and one more touchdown than former top-five pick Kyle Pitts (on nine fewer targets). Backup running back Tyler Allgeier has 13 more attempts on the ground than rookie phenom Bijan Robinson, who has just one carry inside the opponent’s five-yard line this year.
When teams make the (often ill-advised) decision to invest so highly in the running back position, people are going to have questions when said running back is not being used like a star.
Head coach Arthur Smith has had some controversial comments on the issue, citing his distaste for fantasy football and his desire to win football games. Offensive coordinator Dave Ragone took a more diplomatic approach ahead of the Falcons’ Week 10 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
“There’s ebbs and flows of the season,” Ragone said. “We want to make sure we’ve got guys peeking, we’ve got guys in the right position at the right times, and we want to continue to keep that going through a long NFL season.”
Ragone’s words seem to plead for patience from a fanbase that has grown frustrated with this offense. He’s right that giving guys touches for the sake of it isn’t conducive to winning games, but Atlanta’s red zone offense hasn’t helped that cause. The Falcons’ rate of scoring touchdowns from the red zone (50 percent) ranks 18th in football, but only five teams have scored less frequently from inside the 20-yard line over their last three games.
There also may be a long-term strategy at hand here. Limiting Robinson’s touches in a year without legitimate championship aspirations could be better for his career. Even so, that’s a hard pill to swallow for fans watching an offense that ranks 24th in expected points added per play.
Atlanta is currently 4-5, but just a game out of first place. Ragone was adamant that there’s a lot of football to play, and if the circumstances allow, a lot of opportunities for Robinson to have the game fans have been waiting for.
“We’re nine games in, eight games guaranteed more for us,” Ragone said. “We’re trying to measure and understand the flow of each one of those games in the season, and we’ll obviously assess that as we continue to go.”
It’s fair to question if the Falcons should be pressing the Robinson button more often and if the circumstances they’ve been waiting for should be more lax. Against a mediocre Cardinals defense (29th-ranked success rate vs. the run), the stage is set for a big day on the ground. Which running back that truly benefits is yet to be seen.
Until that breakout game, though, Smith and Atlanta will continue to face questions about their questionable usage of the team’s most talented assets.
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