Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson is dealing with multiple injuries on a short week. After playing through a shoulder injury during Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints, Robinson is now dealing with a hamstring issue as well. Will the Falcons star running back miss tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
The Latest on Bijan Robinson’s Status
Robinson was limited in practice on Monday and Tuesday, but these were just estimated practices since Atlanta had two walkthroughs.
Fortunately, during Wednesday’s practice, the Falcons released their injury report and Robinson doesn’t have an injury designation, so he’s good to go for tonight’s game against the Bucs.
Last week, Robinson was able to tough it out and suit up despite his shoulder injury, but the Falcons used him quite sparingly against the Saints. Robinson had just seven rush attempts for 28 yards and received four targets.
It’s worth noting that Tyler Allgeier had more carries (eight) and rushing yards (60) than Robinson, which was certainly frustrating for fantasy football managers.
Robinson did have a 20-yard receiving touchdown that was called back due to a ticky-tack holding penalty that even the announcers disagreed with, which would have changed how his fantasy performance was perceived.
Bijan Robinson TD wiped out on a pretty, pretty, pretty weak holding penalty pic.twitter.com/1Cm8Ishs41
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) September 30, 2024
Still, the point stands that Robinson’s 11 total opportunities in Week 4 represented his lowest involvement of the season after he had earned 20, 19, and 23 touches over the first three weeks of the campaign.
Is Robinson’s injury limiting his effectiveness and involvement on offense? Or did the Falcons simply go with the hot hand since Allgeier averaged 7.5 yards per attempt compared to Robinson’s 4.0 yards per carry?
Robinson will play tonight, but it remains to be seen how many touches he’ll get against Tampa Bay or whether it’s a repeat of last week’s performance.
Fantasy Outlook
Fortunately, Robinson is playing so fantasy managers won’t have to pivot to another running back.
While Robinson’s hamstring and shoulder injuries are a bit of a red flag, he has reached the status of fantasy star where you’re starting him regardless of just about any health concern.
It’s hard to imagine fantasy managers having several better options than Robinson given his upside and the fact that bye weeks start this weekend.
With that said, his limited usage last week vs. the Saints was concerning, and fantasy managers have to hope that his workload looks more like what we saw during the first three weeks of the season.
If Robinson isn’t 100% healthy, it’s possible we’ll see Robinson and Allgeier once again split the work 50/50, especially if Allgeier makes the most of his early opportunities like he did last week against New Orleans.
Tampa Bay represents a solid matchup for Robinson. Through four weeks, the Bucs defense ranks 26th in rushing success rate and 29th in yards per carry. They’ve allowed the 12th-most points to opposing running backs, so this could be a strong bounce-back game for Bijan.