‘Saquon type of season’ is next step for Falcons star Bijan Robinson

Robinson has the talent to produce like Barkley, the 2024 AP offensive player of the year.

Defenders have a hard time wrangling Robinson in tight quarters because of his superlative vision and short-area quickness. He finds space where there appears to be none, turning would-be busted plays into gains that move the chains.

But Robinson has been relatively ordinary once he finds open field.

In 2024, he had one run longer than 30 yards among 304 attempts, a 37-yard score against the Saints. Thirty-one players had at least two runs of more than 30 yards, and seven running backs had five or more. Barkley produced 12 runs of more than 30 yards, including nine attempts for 40-plus yards and eight for more than 50.

Robinson can make an impact like Barkley if he wins more showdowns with one defender to beat and turns nice runs into game-changing plays.

“It’s his next step to becoming the player that he’s going to become, is being able to get those big plays,” Falcons running back coach Michael Pitre said. “Because at the end of the day, yeah, he is efficient. Great ball security and pass protection. Three-down back on those things.

“But it would be awesome if we can break some of those big ones, and then (coordinator Zac Robinson) doesn’t have to call another play, right? He’s sending out the kick team.”

Barkley’s ability to produce long touchdown runs puts him on another level among NFL ball carriers. He had four touchdowns of 60 yards or more last season, then did it three more times in the playoffs. Two of those postseason scores gave the Eagles the lead. The other long TD finished off the Rams late in a divisional playoff game.

The Falcons drafted Bijan Robinson with the belief that he could become a game-changer like Barkley. After the Giants went against NFL convention by selecting a running back early in the 2018 draft, the Falcons did the same in 2023.

Barkley was the No. 2 overall pick out of Penn State. Robinson was the No. 8 pick out of Texas. No other running backs were selected that high in the draft from 2018-25.

The Falcons hit on Robinson. He replaced Barkley in the Pro Bowl last season (Barkley was busy getting ready to win the Super Bowl). But the Falcons took Robinson to be a “home-run hitter,” as former coach Arthur Smith put it, and he has only two TDs of longer than 30 yards (he also had a 71-yard reception for a score against the Saints in 2024).

Robinson is focused on turning more of his hits into homers. He said the physical work includes “explosive drills” and 100-yard sprints. Robinson said he’s also fine-tuning his awareness so that once he gets into open space, he can identify the “free hitter” and make a move off him.

Zac Robinson said offensive linemen, receivers and tight ends all have a hand in creating explosive plays. To help Bijan do better with his part, coaches showed him video clips of missed opportunities for big plays throughout last season.

“Maybe we could close the space on this defender, this free safety, and not make the move from eight to 10 yards away,” Zac Robinson said. “Hey, how can we press that guy’s heels or press his toes to make him feel uncomfortable? Nobody’s better (than Bijan) in the NFL at making short-space quickness moves on defenders. … Those (big plays) are coming. We are not worried about the lack of explosives.”

To explain the approach that coaches want from Bijan Robinson, Pitre used the analogy of a fundamental basketball play, the pick-and-roll.

“If a guy has a lot of space and is doing a crossover on a defender, it doesn’t matter,” Pitre said. “But if I threaten to put that defender in a little bit more of a complex situation, now he has to respect it. You just try to crystallize things for these guys to understand them. And then you show them video evidence of when they do it right, and then show video evidence of other guys doing it right.”

No one does explosive runs better than Barkley. He makes it look easy, but it’s obviously not.

The Falcons are asking Robinson to make split-second decisions at full speed after he escapes traffic while being pursued by defenders who are collectively much faster and more fundamentally sound than those he faced in college.

Quipped Zac Robinson: “That’s why you and I are standing here, and those guys are out there.”

But from Bijan Robinson’s point of view, he should be able to do what few running backs can.

“It looks difficult, but it’s not,” he said. “I’ve been gifted to do stuff like this, so now it’s on me and the O-line and the team and the timing, and how I break down defenders. … Me and my coach (Pitre) joke all the time, ‘We’re done with 40-yard runs. Now it’s time to get that 60-yard, 50-yard (run).”

That’s how Robinson can produce a “Saquon type of season.” It wouldn’t necessarily mean the Falcons have the same outcome as the Eagles. It would significantly boost their chances of becoming winners after seven consecutive years of losing.