Bijan Robinson is hoping that he is the beginning of a new trend rather than the outlier.
Robinson was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the No. The former Texas star, who was selected with the 8th overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night, became the first running back since Saquon Barkley, who was selected at No. 2 in total in 2018
Jahmyr Gibbs is Robinson’s and the Detroit Lions’ (No. 12th overall) became the first running back duo selected in the top 15 since Leonard Fournette’s selection in 2017 at No. 4 to Jacksonville, Christian McCaffrey was selected as the No. 8 from Carolina
It had been some time, and Robinson needs to ensure it won’t be one more six drafts until it reoccurs.
“I know the running back position in the top 10 is really, really rare,” Robinson said Friday. “But I mean, it’s pretty cool to be a guy that can share that and to show the younger kids in the college football, the younger running backs, that it’s possible — you just got to do everything the right way and just be as effective as you can for their program.”
In the modern era of football, running backs selected in the top 10 have become increasingly uncommon. This marks the eighth time since 2000 that two running backs have finished inside the top 15 has occurred. The most striking couples might be the Fournette-McCaffrey mix and in 2007, when Adrian Peterson went No. 7 to Minnesota, and Buffalo selected Marshawn Lynch 12th.
Three running backs have been drafted inside the main 15 on two events starting around 2000: Ronnie Brown (aka No. 2), Cedric Benson (No. Cadillac Williams (No. 4, Chicago) 5, Florida Furthermore, Jamal Lewis (No. 5th Street, Baltimore), Thomas Jones (No. 7, Arizona), as well as Ron Dayne (No. 11, Giants)
However, as the NFL has moved progressively toward passing as its hostile concentration, the main 10 running back has appeared to nearly vanish.
Robinson is of the opinion that he and Gibbs could “absolutely” signal the beginning of a reassessment of the significance of the position. For their situation, they shared different things for all intents and purpose, as both were instructed by Tashard Decision – – Gibbs at Georgia Tech before he moved to Alabama, and Robinson at Texas.
“Our games are kind of similar, and you can line us up anywhere on the field and be just a mismatch as we are at the running back position,” Robinson said. “I see that’s where the running back position is being valued now. That’s where I think it’s going to be headed.”
At Texas, Robinson had 1,580 yards rushing and 314 receiving for 20 touchdowns, while Gibbs had 926 yards rushing and 444 receiving for 10 touchdowns at Alabama.
Thursday night, Falcons coach Arthur Smith said that Robinson was a high-impact player rather than a running back. Brad Holmes, the general manager of the Detroit Lions, stated that the team evaluated Gibbs “in his own separate box.”
Gibbs additionally noted Thursday that he was “shocked” to be picked however high as he seemed to be, to some extent due to the historical backdrop of running backs in the draft.
“I didn’t know I would get picked as high as I did,” Gibbs said. “Running backs don’t get picked as high in this new age and new era of the NFL draft. But it was pretty shocking to me.”