Every once in a while, an athlete comes along whose abilities literally jump off a TV. An athlete who makes everything seem almost effortless.
Bijan Robinson is one of those athletes.
Robinson, 24, has quickly become one of the NFL's best offensive players. And if he isn't a household name yet, he will be by season's end.
After flying under the radar during the season's first two weeks, Robinson ran like a man possessed during Atlanta's wins over the Packers and Saints. Robinson torched Green Bay's defense for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Against New Orleans, Robinson rumbled for 145 yards and two more scores. His 59-yard touchdown set the tone for Atlanta's 45-24 win.
Robinson's recent success mirrors what he did over the past two seasons, when he emerged as one of the league's top running backs. Robinson was already considered an elite running back entering the 2026 season, but now, it's fair to ask if he is the best running back to come along since Barry Sanders, the Lions' legendary runner who abruptly retired after the 1999 season.
In an effort to see just how good Robinson's NFL career has been so far, CBS Sports Research put Robinson's numbers through 55 games alongside some of the century's other great backs over their first 55 games. Sanders was also included.
Of the 10 running backs listed below, Robinson is second in receiving yards and average yards-per-carry, third in touchdown receptions and average scrimmage yards per touch, fourth in receptions and total scrimmage yards, fifth in rushing yards, seventh in scrimmage touchdowns and eighth in rushing touchdowns.
| Player | Scrim. Yards | Scrim. Yards/Tch | Scrim. TD | Rush YDS | YPC | Rush TD | Rec. | Rec. Yds | Rec. TDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LaDainian Tomlinson | 6,929 | 4.9 | 48 | 5,146 | 4.41 | 43 | 260 | 1,783 | 5 |
| 6,502 | 5.3 | 49 | 5,392 | 4.85 | 47 | 113 | 1,110 | 2 | |
| 6,287 | 5.8 | 46 | 3,398 | 4.54 | 30 | 340 | 2,889 | 16 | |
Bijan Robinson | 6,262 | 5.7 | 39 | 4,404 | 4.95 | 29 | 212 | 1,858 | 10 |
Barry Sanders | 6,123 | 5.3 | 51 | 4,957 | 4.80 | 47 | 117 | 1,166 | 4 |
| 5,720 | 5.3 | 45 | 4,733 | 4.97 | 41 | 125 | 987 | 4 | |
| 5,634 | 5.1 | 34 | 3,929 | 4.45 | 26 | 225 | 1,705 | 8 | |
| 5,569 | 5.8 | 56 | 3,933 | 5.21 | 44 | 203 | 1,636 | 12 | |
Marshall Faulk | 5,144 | 4.5 | 36 | 3,501 | 3.65 | 32 | 191 | 1,643 | 4 |
| 3,374 | 4.8 | 29 | 2,874 | 4.41 | 27 | 47 | 500 | 2 |
The table above reinforces the fact that Robinson's career so far is just as good -- and, in some cases, better -- than the NFL's other great backs since the turn of the century.
What makes Bijan so good?
As noted above, Robinson is a complete football player. He has the size and strength to run between the tackles, the vision to find the spaces are in a defense, the elusiveness to make defenders miss, and speed that allows him to turn solid runs into game-breaking ones.
Bijan Robinson reached a top speed of 21.78 mph on his 59-yard TD run, the second-fastest speed by a ball carrier this season and the second-fastest of Robinson's career.@ATLvsNO | #DirtyBirds pic.twitter.com/Id3snQvOyv
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 6, 2026
Along with his physical tools, Robinson has valuable intangibles. He has a high football IQ that allows him to out-think and out-maneuver opposing defenders. He also displays a determination that harkens back to memories of Walter Payton. Robinson pulling defenders for extra (and often, critical) yards is a common sight during Falcons games.
In short, he's a combination of Payton, Jim Brown, LaDainian Tomlinson and, you guessed it, Sanders himself. In terms of his peers, Robinson is strikingly similar to Christian McCaffrey, who is also considered as one of the best running backs of this era.
One underrated part of Robinson's game is his ability to avoid negative runs. Only 15% of his career rushes went for 0 or negative yards, which is the sixth-lowest percentage among 28 players with at least 500 carries since 2023.
Where can he go from here?
Robinson's 5,648 scrimmage yards before age 24 are the most in NFL history. Robinson is tied with Hall of Famer Terrell Davis for the fifth-highest average scrimmage yards-per-game average (113.9) in league history. Robinson averages 1,361 rushing yards, 574 receiving yards and 1,935 all-purpose yards for a 17-game season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Projecting that he reaches 1,361 yards this season, Robinson will have 5,271 rushing yards by season's end. If he kept that rushing average over the following five seasons, he would have 12,076 career rushing yards before his 30th birthday. That is significant as every eligible running back with 12,000 yards is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Since the start of his second season, Robinson has averaged 90.2 rushing yards per game. If he keeps that average through his next 55 games, Robinson will be on the doorstep of eclipsing 10,000 rushing yards by his age-28 season. To compare, Derrick Henry didn't reach 10,000 career yards until 2024, his age-30 season. Henry is now ninth all-time with 13,392 yards.
As far as scrimmage yards are concerned, if Robinson continues at his current rate over his next 55 games, he will have 12,527 scrimmage yards before his 28th birthday. Only Marshall Faulk compiled more scrimmage yards before turning 28.
Durability appears to be on Robinson's side, too. He has yet to miss a game due to injury. In that way, he is similar to Emmitt Smith, whose peerless durability allowed him to become the NFL's all-time rushing leader.
In addition to his durability, Smith was highly driven to break Payton's rushing record. While Robinson may not be driven by the same goal, his pure and immense passion for the game -- which jumps off the screen every time he does an interview -- could very well lead him to the same destination as Smith, Sanders, Payton and the NFL's other great running backs: a permanent spot in Canton, Ohio.
