Atlanta Falcons blow their first round pick in 2023 NFL Draft

The Atlanta Falcons made an awful first round pick when they used their eighth overall selection on Bijan Robinson, a running back.  I would love to know what the Atlanta Falcons were thinking when they made this selection.

Bijan Robinson is perhaps the best player in the 2023 NFL Draft, depending on who you ask.  He can truly do it all as a running back and has no character concerns at all.  He’s a perfect prospect to some degree, but this was the wrong selection for the Falcons.

The Falcons fielded a competent offense in 2022 and managed to scrape together a 7-10 record and were in the playoff hunt for a while.

Desmond Ridder looked fine in his limited action and should get a solid chance to prove himself as a starter.  The Falcons do have a solid offensive line and a core of weapons that features Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and second year running back Tyler Allgeier, who rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2022.

He was a fifth round pick and kind of came out of nowhere.

We know the value of running backs have decreased quite a bit in the modern day NFL, and Allgeier is a perfect example of that.  Teams can find very good running backs in the middle and late rounds.

So, why in the hck would the Falcons use their eighth overall pick on a back?  They did have a poor defense in 2022 and could have used some pass rush help or even a boost in the secondary.  To me, the running back was the least of their worries, so this pick makes little sense to me.

I do trust that head coach Arthur Smith will be able to adequately deploy Bijan Robinson in the offense, but man, this feels like a massive reach to me on all levels.