An all-time season from Robinson propelled the Falcons run game to new heights.
The Atlanta Falcons under Arthur Smith were built to be a run-first team, but their 2023 results were a bit uneven as the head coach struggled through quarterback woes and properly dividing up work for his top two backs. No such struggles took place in 2024.
That’s partly because the Falcons leaned heavily on Bijan Robinson, who proved to be one of the small handful of great backs in the NFL during a huge breakout season. It’s partly because Tyler Allgeier, relegated to a smaller background role, still proved to be one of the best and most reliable backups in the NFL. And of course, it’s owing to the phenomenal work of an offensive line built for this.
We’ll focus on the running backs today in our second roster review of 2025.
Bijan Robinson
Age: 22 | NFL experience 2 years
2024 stats: 304 carries, 1,456 yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, 4.8 yards per attempt, 60.2% success rate; 61 receptions, 431 yards, 7.1 yards per reception, 1 receiving touchdown, 84.7% catch rate, 1 fumble
How great was Robinson’s season? He was third in the NFL in rushing yards, fifth in rushing touchdowns, first among running backs in success rate, and had fewer fumbles than any back with his volume of carries. In Falcons franchise history, meanwhile, he was sixth in yards, tied for second in touchdowns, and tied for third in scoring in franchise history among all non-kickers. It was an absurdly great year where Robinson made very few mistakes—his one fumble was actually a high direct snap he couldn’t corral, which isn’t really his fault—and made this offense look far better than it would have with a lesser lead back.
Robinson improved in almost every facet from 2023. His pass protection was better—I don’t give a damn what Pro Football Focus says about it, I saw the huge number of play-saving blocks that rescued Kirk Cousins from oblivion—and he was a more comfortable and efficient receiver despite a dip in target volume. The biggest improvement still was as a runner, where Bijan’s already terrific vision and ability to jump cut defenders out of their circulatory system got a boost and he showed even better patience. That allowed him to take advantage of quality blocking and frequently turn plays that looked like they might be a modest gain to an outright loss and turn them into major gains; he was actually sixth in the NFL in broken tackles to further lift his level of danger.
With a less one-dimensional attack—a hobbled Kirk Cousins allowed teams to key on Robinson to a discouraging extent in the Broncos, Chargers, and Vikings games—Robinson might have put up even loftier numbers. What is extremely clear is that he’s one of the most exciting young talents in the NFL and the engine of a dangerous Falcons offense to come with Michael Penix taking over under center, and I doubt we’ve seen Bijan hit his lofty ceiling just yet.
Tyler Allgeier
Age: 24 | NFL experience 3 years
2024 stats: 137 carries, 644 yards, 3 rushing touchdowns, 4.7 yards per attempt, 58.4% success rate; 13 receptions, 88 yards, 6.8 yards per reception, 100% catch rate, 0 fumbles
This was Allgeier’s lowest usage rate since he arrived in the NFL, as Bijan seized the feature back role for the first time. It was also Allgeier’s most efficient year yet, as he enjoyed his second best yards per carry, best success rate, and caught every single one of his targets.
What Allgeier lacks in terms of burst and standout escapability, he makes up for with physicality and reliability. Allgeier has still never fumbled in an NFL game, somehow, and he’s the battering ram that wears defenses down and drags hapless defenders with him. As a late game cudgel and an early game, jarring change of pace for Robinson, he’s about as good as it gets.
The Falcons are fortunate to have him around, but it will be interesting to see if they can retain him or if he’ll wind up elsewhere like Michael Turner did in 2008, taking to the market as a relatively young back with relatively low mileage. For now, he’s the perfect complement to Bijan and a player Falcons fans love with good reason.
Jase McClellan
Age: 22 | NFL experience 1 year
2024 stats: 13 carries, 32 yards, 2.5 yards per attempt, 46.2% success rate, 0 fumbles
McClellan’s rookie year was a bit of a bust. The Alabama product was hurt throughout the spring, summer, and season, and buried as he was on the depth chart behind two players as good as Robinson and Allgeier, his chances were going to be quite limited. He looked solid despite his putrid per carry average in his garbage time efforts, but that was too small of a glimpse for a player who came to the NFL with well-regarded pass catching and pass protection skills.
McClellan is likely to be a little more relevant next year and possibly very relevant in 2026 with Allgeier ticketed for free agency, but he’ll need to be healthy first.
Carlos Washington
He remains a practice squad option and really quality fourth running back, but unsurprisingly, he didn’t touch the ball during the regular season in 2024.
Avery Williams
Same story here. Williams has bounced around to a bunch of different positions in the NFL, but with Robinson and Allgeier dominating touches, there’s just not any table scraps left for the speedy returner.