The Falcons drafted Bijan Robinson with the idea that he’d be their starting running back for years to come, but they’re going to make him earn it.
On the first training camp depth chart released by the Falcons, Robinson is the third-string running back. Cordarrelle Patterson is No. 1 and Tyler Allgeier is No. 2.
As the No. 8 overall pick in the draft, Robinson still has to be considered the favorite to be the starting running back in Week One of the regular season. But the Falcons will defer for now to Patterson and Allgeier, both of whom played well last year in Atlanta.
At a time when few NFL teams want to invest significant resources into running backs, the Falcons surprised some people by taking Robinson so high. It’s also a surprise that he’s so low on the depth chart, even if he won’t be that low for long.
