Bijan Robinson eyeing Christian McCaffrey-like role in 2024 with Kirk Cousins-led Falcons
Bijan Robinson had a strange first year with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL. While his production wasn't bad by any means, the expectations were huge for the top 10 running back, and perhaps Arthur Smith got a bit overzealous with his usage.
Arthur Smith is gone. The Falcons fired their head coach, Raheem Morris arrived at the team and, perhaps more important to the offense, Kirk Cousins took over as the new starting quarterback. The entire scheme will change as a result, and even if Robinson (and the running game) isn't the focal point, he still should deliver a lot of production.
The running back believes that, with a new scheme and a new quarterback in town, his usage could ascend to Christian McCaffrey's-level in 2024.
If Bijan Robinson does the same things as the San Francisco 49ers' superstar, well, the sky is the limit for the Atlanta Falcons in 2024.
How does Kirk Cousins help Bijan Robinson produce more?
Over the past decade and a half, the NFL has seen the rise of the spread offense and its principles, and as a result, the passing game became the focal point of the offenses; in turn, defenses started to unload the box, opening more spaces to the running game.
Since Matt Ryan started his steep decline in production, the Falcons didn't have a good passing game and this gave more burden for the running game. With Bijan Robinson as RB1 and Kirk Cousins as quarterback, stopping Atlanta's offense isn't going to be easy.
At the end of the day, nothing really matters until it's proven on the field. But Falcons fans are allowed to have hope, even with the shadows of Michael Penix Jr.'s pick still hanging over the franchise.
What's Kirk Cousins' contract?
He signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the team that has $100 million in guarantees and a $50 million signing bonus.
It's important to point out details to say why it was a bad pick: in Penix's third season in the league, if Atlanta decides to let go of Cousins, they'll still hold a $25 million dead cap. Financially speaking, this pick doesn't make sense at all.