Why Falcons were ‘no-brainer’ for Brian Robinson Jr. after tough career twist

FLOWERY BRANCH — New Falcons running back Brian Robinson Jr. was two weeks away from the start of his fourth NFL season, another year where he was expected to take the bulk of the carries in the Commanders’ backfield, when his phone rang and his future changed.

The Commanders traded Robinson, who started 37 of his 41 appearances with the team, to the 49ers in August. With it, Robinson lost his starting gig — and two-thirds of his usual snap count.

Robinson averaged 450 snaps across his first three seasons — each including injuries that cost him a combined 10 games — along with 33 snaps per game. He didn’t miss a contest in San Francisco, but across 17 regular-season appearances, he saw just 190 snaps — an average of 11 snaps per game.

“It was definitely hard,” Robinson said this summer. “Going from playing 60-70% of the snaps to less than 10% is obviously something I wasn’t used to. … It was a challenge. Obviously something I don’t want to have to get used to, but that was just kind of the situation I was dealt.”

A free agent for the first time in his professional career this spring, Robinson had full discretion over his next situation. He wanted involvement. He wanted to play. He wanted to be part of the game plan, the engine that makes a great offense roll through opposing defenses.

Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski gave Robinson a promising pitch.

“The situation that I was really looking for, what they were offering to me, is what attracted me,” Robinson said. “So, it was a no-brainer that I wanted to be here.”

The blueprint for Robinson’s role exists in three years’ worth of production from Tyler Allgeier, who left for the Cardinals in free agency after being the Falcons’ complementary running back to Bijan Robinson.

Allgeier averaged 19 snaps and nine carries per game from 2023-25, serving largely as the power rusher next to the shifty, versatile Bijan Robinson. Allgeier also took on a larger role in the red zone and finished with eight rushing touchdowns to Robinson’s seven.

Brian Robinson Jr., who measures 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, compares similarly sizewise to the 5-foot-10, 225-pound Allgeier — and Bijan Robinson said they share similar play styles, too.

“What Tyler brought, he was special in his game and how he ran the football and how he exploited defenders and how he created space for himself, and then Brian’s the same way,” Bijan Robinson said. “They’re not too different. They both have some similarities — they both run through people on the field.”

In his own words, Bijan Robinson is “not one to truck you all the time.” He’s actively trying to run away from the pursuing crowd and avoid would-be tacklers. He leaves the rest of it — namely running through defenders — to his complement.

When he was the Browns’ coach, and he had a backfield with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, Stefanski said the team had specific plays for Chubb and others designed for Hunt.

The Robinson duo will follow a similar path.

“A really, really talented football player who I think matches exceptionally with what we want to do with him and Bijan,” Stefanski said about Brian Robinson in April. “The skill set and how they marry each other, how they complement each other. We want to have an attack that’s not just a one-person attack.

“You have to be balanced in this league. I think Brian gives us an opportunity to do that.”

Brian Robinson, 27, arrived in the NFL as a third-round pick in 2022. He was shot in the lower leg Aug. 28, 2022, and missed the first four games of his rookie season but rebounded to start nine of 13 games. So began his trying, arduous path to Atlanta.

Through four years and 58 games in the NFL, Robinson has amassed 2,729 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground while averaging 4.1 yards per attempt.

In San Francisco, Robinson had to take a back seat. He played behind Christian McCaffrey, who led the NFL with 413 touches — some 44 more than the next-closest competitor. Robinson respects McCaffrey and appreciated the 49ers for acquiring him, but the year itself provided the biggest on-field hurdle he’d faced in the NFL.

Robinson, however, learned a valuable lesson about football, and about himself, while spending much of last season watching on the sideline.

“I just learned what type of team player I am and what type of character I have for the team and not just for myself,” Robinson said. “Obviously, personally we all want to be out there on the field a lot and play a lot and make a lot of plays.

“But when I wasn’t the guy, I still supported the guys around me, supported the guys ahead of me that was out there on the field and still tried to be a great teammate and complement them the best way I could.”

Robinson also tried to glean a few tricks from McCaffrey, one of the NFL’s most versatile playmakers. For his career, Robinson hasn’t been much of a pass-catcher — he’s totaled 73 receptions for 612 yards and five scores through the air — but he caught several passes in his first OTA and minicamp practices with the Falcons.