The Atlanta Falcons entered the offseason with a pretty good duo at the running back position. They had a 1,000-yard rusher going into his second season in Tyler Allgeier and a ‘joker’ in Cordarrelle Patterson.
However, the franchise couldn’t resist the temptation to take generational running back Bijan Robinson. Now, they have the deepest running back room in the entire NFL and it has taken a while for each of their roles in this offense to be established, but it has finally happened.
Many wondered if there were too many mouths to feed in this Atlanta Falcons offense, especially at the running back position.
The Falcons had their lead back from the 2021 season in Cordarrelle Patterson, their lead back and record-setting running back from the 2022 season in Tyler Allgeier, and then they added a workhorse runner in Bijan Robinson.
Each one of those guys deserves carries throughout a 60-minute game. It was confusing to see how they were used over the first half of the season. One week Bijan would get a bulk of the touches then Allgeier would, and it took a few weeks for Patterson to see any kind of action.
But in week 12, against the New Orleans Saints, Arthur Smith showed a blueprint of how these three runners should be used and when they should be deployed.
It all starts with Bijan Robinson who can do anything. He is the big-play producer, he is the explosive runner, and the touchdown maker and he can also be used in a variety of ways. The game should start with the ball in his hands and he should be getting the bulk of the carries.
Then Patterson should come in when some energy is needed. Patterson was a tone-setter in Sunday’s game. He came in and ran over defenders and let them know it.
And finally, Allgeier should be the main runner when you want to finish off a defense and a game. We watched the Falcons at the end of the game against the Saints, run the ball over and over and Tyler Allgeier was the driving force for it all.
Allgeier is able to get those necessary yards to keep the offense on schedule. We watched him run through guys and shrug off defenders who had a 100-pound advantage, which keeps the Falcons out of those third-and-long downs.
It was a beautiful thing to watch these three players mesh together and this should be the blueprint for this offense moving forward.
