Brian Robinson Jr. has been a starter basically his whole career. Not this year, though. He's a backup now, and so far it's working out better than people probably expected.
He ran 10 times for 50 yards and a touchdown in Atlanta's 35-14 win over Green Bay last month, his first score since signing with the Falcons back in March. Short touchdown run, pushed the lead to 23-7, then he spent the rest of the night watching Michael Penix Jr. get most of the attention as Atlanta's new starting quarterback.
Robinson came into the league in 2022, third-round pick, Washington Commanders. He became a workhorse fast, over 700 rushing yards in each of his first three seasons, starting 28 games across 2023 and 2024, three playoff starts too. Over that stretch, 2,059 total scrimmage yards, 17 touchdowns, both numbers that ranked near the top of the league at his position.
Washington traded him before the 2025 season, sent him to San Francisco as Christian McCaffrey's backup. Not a huge workload there, 92 carries, 400 yards, two scores across 17 games, but steady enough. Then free agency hit in March, and Robinson signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with Atlanta, basically stepping into the role Tyler Allgeier left when he went to Arizona.
Nobody's confused about the pecking order here. Bijan Robinson is the starter, has been since he broke Atlanta's rookie rushing record with 1,035 yards back in 2022, and he's only taken on more of the workload since. What the Falcons needed was someone to spell him, keep him fresh, and still be a real threat near the goal line. Robinson's running style, more downhill, more physical, fits that pretty well.
Bijan seemed fine with the pairing too, even before the season started. He trained with McCaffrey over the offseason, talked to him about his old teammate. "Christian appreciated him as a teammate and as a man," Bijan said at the time. Small comment, but in a running back room, that kind of thing actually matters for how snaps get split later.
There was a minor ankle issue after that Green Bay game. Robinson missed a bit of time but was back to full practice participation pretty quickly, which is at least a good sign given everything he's already been through physically in his career.
And that history goes beyond football injuries. Back in his rookie year with Washington, Robinson was shot multiple times during an attempted armed robbery or carjacking in D.C. Hospitalized, needed surgery, the whole thing. He came back from it and still had a solid rookie season. It's not something that gets brought up every week, but it's quietly part of his story at every stop since, a reminder of how much he's already dealt with before any of this current role stuff.
A few weeks into the season, Robinson's settled into exactly what Atlanta brought him in to do. He's not getting Bijan's volume, nobody expected him to. But when he does get the ball, especially near the goal line, he's making it count. Fantasy writers have noticed too, a few have flagged him as a solid handcuff for anyone rostering Bijan, given how much short-yardage work he's getting.
Not a flashy job. But it's sustainable. He's producing value on limited touches instead of racking up empty stats on a losing team, which might honestly be the healthier path for a guy who's already seen both ends of the workload spectrum earlier in his career.
With Penix settled in at quarterback and Atlanta's offense finding some rhythm, Robinson's role probably stays about the same: spell Bijan, finish drives near the goal line, take whatever share of touches the coaches decide to give him that week. Quieter than what he had in Washington, sure. But on a 35-14 win over a good team, quiet production that finishes drives is exactly what Atlanta needs out of its RB2 right now.
