'Ridiculous!': Falcons Coach Reacts to Bijan Robinson, Derrick Henry Comparison
In Jan. 2021, Arthur Smith accepted the job as coach of the Atlanta Falcons, following two impressive years as the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator.
During his time in Tennessee, Smith was the orchestrator of a ground-dominant attack spearheaded by running back Derrick Henry, who rushed for over 2,000 yards while earning NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2020, their final campaign together.
This past season, Smith guided the Falcons to the third-best rushing offense, as the unit averaged just under 160 yards per game while fifth-round pick Tyler Allgeier broke the franchise's rookie rushing record with 1,035 yards.
And yet, Atlanta kept adding to its ground game, as it selected Texas running back Bijan Robinson with the No. 8 overall pick in last week's draft.
The 5-11, 215-pound Robinson is viewed as one of the best running back prospects in recent memory and should contend for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year while proving big-play potential from the start.
Robinson, 21, is so highly thought of that some have even made the comparison that he could be Atlanta's version of Henry in Smith's offense ... but the third-year coach emphatically refuted such ideas.
"I would never ask somebody to be ... that's ridiculous," Smith said. "Derrick Henry is probably a gold jacket player. Derrick Henry is one of the most unique players I've ever been privileged to coach."
Beyond the point of Henry being the potential Hall of Fame inductee Smith believes he could be, there are other factors not even related to the individual runners themselves.
Per Smith, the manner in which Atlanta runs the ball is "completely different" from how Tennessee did it under his watch, even if there was "pretty similar success" on the stat sheet.
"On the surface, it's 'oh, running the football.' Well, Derrick's unique," Smith said. "We'll never ask a player to be something like that. The way we ran it last year in '22, very similar results to what we had in '20 in Tennessee, completely different run game. We were pistol, we were zone read, we did all kinds of different things."
Smith's offense revolves around zone concepts; that much has stayed the same - but the actual formations haven't, especially with the athleticism that quarterback Marcus Mariota brought to the table last year.
While Mariota was benched and subsequently released, second-year signal caller Desmond Ridder has the ability to run the option offense, though Atlanta's expecting decreased rushing numbers from the quarterback spot after recording 502 yards last season.
Still, the one-two punch of Robinson and Allgeier promises to be stout, and playmaking wideback Cordarrelle Patterson is also set to return.
There's also former undrafted free agent Caleb Huntley, who's working his way back from a torn Achilles suffered late in the season but is ahead of schedule in his rehab and should be ready for training camp.
Then, of course, return specialist and scat back Avery Williams has become a roster fixture - which may force Atlanta to make a difficult decision elsewhere.
But regardless, no matter the player, the stature, the journey or the accolades they've collected, Smith has no expectations for Henry-like play.
"Tyler and Bijan and Caleb Huntley or CP, whoever's up on game day, they'll all have unique roles," Smith said, "but they won't be Derrick Henry, I promise you that."
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
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