Six weeks into the season, the MVP race is already shaping up to be a wild one. Quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, and Lamar Jackson are lighting up defenses week after week. But if anyone outside that group deserves to be in the conversation, it’s Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. Still, with his workload expanding every week, it’s fair to wonder, could this do-it-all role actually get a little too complicated?

In a recent sit-down with the NFL on NBC, Robinson opened up about how his responsibilities have changed.

“In the way that I’m getting to do everything,” he said. “Expanding my role in the past game, and obviously more in the run game, where we’re adding a lot of things. But for me, you know, just me understanding receiving contests and trying to work with the receivers every day and going to receiver meetings.”

It’s not like this was unexpected. After his rookie year in 2023, everyone knew Bijan would be given more freedom in the offense. Drafted eighth overall out of Texas in 2023, he just missed a 1,000-yard rushing season as a rookie, made the Pro Bowl in year two. And now, six games into 2025, he looks even more dynamic.

Bijan’s role as a receiver has completely evolved. He is averaging at least five targets every game, which puts him on pace for nearly 100 by the end of the season. That’s a huge jump from 72 last year.

The 23-year-old RB is running full routes, understanding coverage schemes, and syncing up with rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to find space downfield. Atlanta’s getting creative. They’re motioning him out wide, isolating him on linebackers, and letting him use his receiver-like skill set.

Now, in his second year under OC Zac Robinson‘s offense, can that dual threat create a mismatch in Raheem Morris‘s offensive strategy?

Bijan Robinson’s identity crisis

Sure, Zac said that the expanded role is all part of the plan. “The first year in the system, we wanted to make sure, hey, running back, obviously, we were able to get him involved out on the perimeter in the pass game a decent amount. But yeah, that first year was the goal,” Zac said.

“Like, ‘Hey, let’s let ‘B’ running back do his things from that standpoint,’ and then from there, it’s just kind of taken off,” he added. But it cannot be that simple. Blurring a player’s identity is always complicated.

If Bijan gets used too much as a receiver, it could take away from his burst and physicality in the run game. On the other hand, if they focus too much on keeping him in the backfield, they’ll waste one of the league’s most unique mismatches.

That balancing act becomes even trickier for HC Raheem Morris and the Falcons coaching staff. When you have a running back lining up in the slot or split out wide, it forces everyone to adjust. Is he a running back on that play call? Or a receiver? Do defenses stay in base or switch to nickel? The more you blur those roles, the harder it can be to keep the offense in rhythm.

Timing can also become an issue. If Bijan’s motioning out wide one snap and back in the backfield the next, it can disrupt the flow of the run game. And let’s be honest, the run game is the very foundation of this Falcons team. The last thing Morris wants is to lose that balance.

For now, things are clicking. Atlanta’s offense ranks second in the league in total yards (390.6 per game). And of course, its rushing attack remains one of the best. Robinson’s unpredictability has had a major hand to play in that. Raheem Morris and Zac need to keep that balance.