Falcons RB Bijan Robinson is setting a lofty goal for himself -- become the Christian McCaffrey of the Atlanta offense.
The Atlanta Falcons are ready to compete for an NFC South title. Kirk Cousins is new in town and should make the Falcons an instant contender. He will need a big season out of Bijan Robinson if Atlanta truly wants to go somewhere in the playoffs.
Robinson recently appeared on Up & Adams with Kay Adams. He talked about his impressive goal for the 2024 season.
“We’re similar in what we do on the field, and with this offense, and whatever Zac’s doing, and you know how I can contribute, I’m ready for whatever he has for me,” Robinson said. “I’m excited though because everyone is about to get the shine they’re hoping and praying for so it’s going to be a fun ride with those dudes.”
Bijan Robinson is hoping he will have more opportunity to take on the Christian McCaffrey role in 2024. He is optimistic that he can make this a reality under the new coaching staff and new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
“With Christian with the offense that he runs, and the offense that he’s in, and just like how he hits the hole with his patience and then even like running option routes and stuff, how he gets open, and anticipates what the defender is going to do,” Robinson continued. “Those little things is what I picked up. I’m trying to do all that in my game too.”
Robinson's goal of becoming a McCaffrey-like offensive weapon are not unfounded. McCaffrey saw 272 carries and 83 targets in 2023 while Robinson who saw 214 carries and 86 targets in his rookie year. It is not farfetched to assume that Robinson can carry the load for the Falcons offense and become a dynamic weapon.
This is even more possible since Robinson, like many other offensive weapons on the Falcons, were held back last season.
Whether it was because of former head coach Arthur Smith or a lack of QB talent is hard to say. Both elements have been upgraded in 2024.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris explains why he is not playing Michael Penix Jr. in the preseason
Rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. is another player who will be incredibly important to the future of the Falcons.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris recently spoke with Kay Adams about why Penix Jr. is not going to play much the rest of the preseason.
Related NewsArticle continues below
“You can prepare yourself by mitigating injury and we’ve learned so much more in a new game of football and age of football that we’ve changed every single year,” Morris said. “We’ve changed the way the game’s been played. We've changed the way the hits are developed, we've changed the way everything‘s going. So, we have a different approach and our approach works for us. We got him 25 snaps last week and there's a bunch of different things that we can simulate now.”
Despite the lost preseason reps, Morris is confident that Penix Jr. will be just fine.
“This kid is going to develop and he's done a great job of doing that already,” Morris concluded. “I'm fired up to see him keep maturing and keep going.”
It remains an open question whether we'll actually see Penix Jr. play football this season. However, it is smart for your backup QB to be healthy, so this feels like a good move by Atlanta.
We can't wait to see this new-look Falcons offense later this fall!
