Bijan Robinson shares his 'welcome to the NFL' moment
Atlanta Falcons rookie running back Bijan Robinson has made his transition to the NFL look seamless, as he’s brought the same skillset he showed at Texas on Saturdays to Sundays at the next level. But even through his success, he still has his infamous welcome to the NFL moment.
Any NFL player can tell you the first moment they had on the field when they realized that they weren’t playing in college anymore and that the league comes with a different level of size, speed, physicality, and intelligence within the game. Robinson recently made an appearance on the ‘Dan Patrick Show’, revealing his welcome to the NFL moment through the first six weeks of his professional career.
“I would say probably my first game against the Panthers,” Robinson said. “The Panthers have a linebacker [Frankie] Luvu and I was on a pass protection and he just came and bull rushed me, just as fast as he can, as hard as he can.”
Frankie Luvu currently leads the Carolina Panthers in tackles and is a six-year NFL veteran who brings a little more experience to the table compared to Robinson, having played in 77 games in his career.
Luvu had the experience and size advantage over Robinson during their collision, and Robinson was able to hold his own. But the physicality of the play was something Robinson had not experienced and will likely remember forever going forward in his career.
“I picked it up, but I just felt all the power that he was bringing in that one hit and I was like alright, I’ve never felt this one before,” Robinson explained. “But I would say that was probably the welcome to the NFL moment that I had.”
The Falcons were able to pull out the win in Robinson’s rookie debut, defeating the Panthers 24-10 in Week 1. Robinson got things going scoring the first touchdown of the game and his career, catching a pass from Desmond Ridder out of the backfield and making three defenders miss on his way to an 11-yard score.
From that game forward Robinson has quickly established himself as one of the best and most versatile running backs in the league despite it being his first NFL season. His 401 yards rushing rank 10th in the NFL currently, but only three players ahead of him in the rankings have less carries.
He’s also been able to get it done in the passing game for Atlanta leading all running backs with 26 catches through six games, adding 189 receiving yards and two scores through the air to his stat line.
Robinson has responded to his warm welcome to the league with some impressive play this season and will look to keep it going this weekend as the Falcons face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road.