Through the first quarter of the season, the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans have showcased two of the NFL’s most exciting rookies. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has six touchdown passes and zero interceptions over four starts.
While Stroud’s excellent play has his team sitting at 2-2, the same could be said about Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. The No. 8 overall pick in the draft has the third-most rushing yards (318) in the league this season.
As shown below, only Christian McCaffrey and D’Andre Swift have more rushing yards thus far in 2023.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans praised Robinson this past week when discussing the Falcons offense.
“He’s probably one of the most explosive, dynamic players in this league,” Ryans said about Robinson. “Although he’s a rookie, he’s leading in a lot of statistical categories just because when he touches the ball, he’s dynamic.”
Atlanta is a slight favorite going into Sunday’s game, but the team has lost two in a row following a hot start.
The Falcons are 2-0 at home this season, so perhaps the friendly confines of Mercedes-Benz Stadium will help Arthur Smith’s team get back on track in Week 5.