Bijan Robinson Rumors: Falcons Linked to RB Ahead of 2023 NFL Draft by Insiders

It's been five years since a running back was taken in the top 10 of the NFL draft, but Bijan Robinson appears to have a realistic chance to end that streak Thursday.

Per ESPN's Jason Reid, many people around the league believe Robinson will go as high as No. 8 to the Atlanta Falcons.

Reid cites the history of Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith of "taking the best player available regardless of position," as well as Smith favoring the running game and a ball-control offense.

The Falcons have become a popular landing spot for Robinson in the days leading up to the draft.

Smith has also been singing the praises of second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder as the starter going into 2023, saying during a March 31 appearance on The Rich Eisen Show (h/t NFL.com's Nick Shook):

"He won a lot of games in college and helped Luke Fickell at Cincinnati really change the whole culture of that program. And I certainly think that experience, you start that many games coming in helps, we certainly saw that early on as we threw everything we could at him. And he was impressive, and we felt that he was ready to take over at that time of the season, and I thought he did a nice job. Cool, collected under pressure."

If the Falcons are set on giving Ridder a chance, it presumably takes them out of the mix if at least one of the top quarterbacks is still on the board at No. 8.

There are certainly plenty of premium positions where the Falcons could stand to get better. Their defense has had the fewest sacks in the NFL in each of the past two seasons (39 total).

Vic Beasley is the last Falcons player with at least 10 sacks in a season (15.5 in 2016). They did sign Jessie Bates III in free agency and acquired Jeff Okudah from the Detroit Lions, but the secondary is still a significant question mark going into 2023.

Robinson plays a position that hasn't been valued highly in the draft for years, though most analysts seem to agree he's the best offensive player in this class.

The Texas standout is the fourth-ranked player overall by B/R's NFL scouting department. He ran for 1,580 yards, averaged 16.5 yards per reception and scored 20 total touchdowns as a junior in 2022.

Atlanta's running game ranked third in the NFL with 159.9 yards per game on a league-high 559 carries last season.