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Falcons RB Bijan Robinson: 'I want 2,000 yards rushing' in Year 2

Published Feb. 22, 2024 3:58 p.m. ET

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Bijan Robinson led all rookie running backs in both rushing and total yards in 2023, and he has his sights on an even bigger mark heading into Year 2.

"I want 2,000 yards rushing," the Atlanta Falcons standout recently told Sports Illustrated. "I know those are big expectations. What we can do as an offense — with all the weapons, our O-line, with [offensive coordinator] Zac [Robinson] being at the helm — it can be something special.

"I think it's going to be one of those special seasons that Atlanta [has] been waiting for, us and all of us as players have been waiting for. So, let's get it."

Rushing for 2,000 yards in a single season isn't impossible, but it's certainly uncommon. It's only been done eight times in NFL history, with former Los Angeles Rams RB Eric Dickerson's 2,105 rushing yards in 1984 being the all-time record.

Robinson fell short of that mark in 2023, rushing for just 976 yards in 17 games, meaning he'll have to more than double his rushing output from Year 1 to Year 2 in order to reach his goal of 2,000 rushing yards.

A big reason why Robinson fell short of the mere 1,000-yard mark as a rookie was his workload. He split carries with second-year RB Tyler Allgeier, rushing the ball 214 times to Allgeier's 186 attempts. Robinson was notably more efficient with his carries, rushing for 4.6 yards per attempt, while Allgeier's yards per attempt were nearly a full yard less (3.7).

However, Robinson was more careless with the ball. Robinson had four fumbles, losing the ball three times, while Allgeier never let the ball hit the ground.

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Falcons running backs coach Michael Pitre certainly wants Robinson to rectify that in 2024.

"Making sure we're doing a better job taking care of the football and not putting ourselves in a bad situation as a football team by being careless with the football," Pitre told Sports Illustrated.

If Robinson adjusted his 2,000-yard goal to include receiving yards, it'd be a bit more attainable. Robinson had 58 receptions for 487 yards and four touchdowns in 2023, giving him 1,463 all-purpose yards. He finished 11th in the league in all-purpose yards and 12th in total touches (272).

Robinson acknowledges that he could've performed better in 2023 and hopes to be more consistent in 2024, as he had six games with 70 or fewer all-purpose yards.

"I had 1,400 [all-purpose] yards, but for me, I have such high expectations, that's not a great season," Robinson said. "That may be great somewhere else, but that shouldn't be the standard for me."

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