Running back Tevin Coleman was declared the winner of the Falcons’ running back derby Tuesday.
“That’s (how) we’ll start off,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “We are still working through some of the things. But (Coleman) is how we’ll start it off.”
Coleman, who rushed for 56 yards on eight carries in the exhibition season finale against Baltimore, was elated with the news.
“It’s been real tough,” said Coleman, who suffered a hamstring injury Aug. 5. “It’s been a journey with me being injured. I was just battling it out, trying to figure out the scheme and get comfortable with the league.”
Coleman, who was selected in the third round (72nd overall) of the NFL draft out of Indiana, averaged 142.6 rushing yards per game over the final 21 games of his college career. He owns the Indiana single-season rushing record with 2,036 yards, which he set last season, and he set the mark while going for 228 yards against eventual national champion Ohio State.
The Falcons hope that Coleman can add that sort of pop to their revamped rushing attack after the team moved way from Steven Jackson, Jacquizz Rodgers and Antone Smith.
“This is real different from college,” Coleman said. “There is more studying on your own time and taking care of your body.”
After being drafted, Coleman said he wanted to win the starting job.
“It’s an exciting moment,” Coleman said. “I’m going to take advantage of it and do what I can do.”
Winning the job wasn’t as easy as Coleman thought.
“It was real difficult, but you’ve got to take your time and spend your time studying and things like that,” Coleman said. “That’s just what I did. I’m still learning the offense and the scheme of it.”
Coleman made a difficult run against Miami behind little blocking that caught the team’s attention. Then his showing against Baltimore sealed the job to open the season. He beat out Devonta Freeman, a fourth-round pick in 2014, who’s been slowed by a hamstring injury.
“We had to hold those guys for a number of times just due to their injuries,” Quinn said. “It’s great to have them both back. Both of them feel great. We are going to need them both.”
Freeman wasn’t distraught about the news.
“It’s like one of those things,” Freeman said. “When you don’t get any reps in a game over the whole preseason and the other guy is getting reps, and I’ve been missing practices and stuff like that, you know, he’s supposed to be in there.”
Freeman believes he’ll be ready to play against the Eagles.
“Yeah, it’s just one of those things where you have to stay ready,” Freeman said. “I’ve been in the position where I haven’t been the starter, you just stay ready. When they knock on the door, that’s when you’ve got to answer.”
The offensive linemen have started to bond with Coleman.
“He’s an exciting runner,” center Mike Person said. “He’s a shifty guy. It’s going to be fun to block for him, that’s for sure. If you give him a little bit of daylight that can be trouble for the other team.”
Wide receiver Roddy White believes that Coleman can help the offense get back on track in 2015.
“He’s a really explosive guy,” White said. “That’s good for our offense if he can get out there and run the ball like that.”
Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and running backs coach Bobby Turner have used a rookie running back before.
They went with Washington running back Alfred Morris, who rushed for 1,613 yards as a rookie in 2012. That total was the third most by a rookie in NFL history behind Eric Dickerson (1,808 in 1983) and George Rogers (1,674 in 1981).
They must see something special in Coleman.
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