Week 8 Hot Seat: Bijan Robinson and the crowded Falcons backfield

Atlanta Falcons RB Bijan Robinson battled headaches on Sunday. The team wanted to protect him, and the ballyhooed rookie ended up playing in only 11 snaps in the team's win over the Buccaneers. Robinson carried the football one time, gaining three yards, scoring only 0.3 PPR points more than we did. Fantasy managers wound up with headaches with the lack of notice that Robinson was ailing, but who are we kidding, they would have left him active anyway. Football players fall ill, just like you and I do. It happens.

The overlooked problem here is that Robinson, the No. 8 pick in the NFL draft and a top-5 choice in preseason ESPN average live drafts, was only somewhat living up to the overwhelming hype before Week 7. A case can be made for the positive and negative, really. Early on, Robinson looked great. He rushed for more than 100 yards in two of the first four games, and he caught five passes per outing. What a talent! Sure, he shared touches with Tyler Allgeier, but few seemed to care. The first-round fantasy pick was worth it.

Then again, even removing the Week 7 statistical calamity, Robinson has rushed for fewer than 50 yards in three of the past four games when he was a major part of the offense. He still hasn't scored a rushing touchdown and Allgeier remains solidly in play, entering Week 8 with 105 touches from scrimmage, only two fewer than Robinson! Former standout Cordarrelle Patterson played a role on Sunday with Robinson ailing. He shouldn't play a major role moving forward, but it's the Falcons, so who knows for sure? Robinson averaged only 13 rushing attempts through the first six games. Everyone expected more.

None of this means fantasy managers should be panicking about the Texas product, who enters Week 8 averaging 13.6 PPR points per game (hey, Week 7 counts too, you know), but asking fantasy managers to avoid panicking is like asking babies to behave in restaurants. There are 16 running backs averaging more points per game, including the Browns' Jerome Ford. The Rams' Darrell Henderson Jr. came off the street and scored 13.6 PPR points just this past week. No, 13.6 PPR points is not a terrible number but ... again, expectations. This was supposed to be a top-5 RB, not a mid-RB2.

There is clearly little danger of Robinson falling off rosters anytime soon, but we may need to entertain the possibility he belongs on the proverbial Hot Seat for fantasy purposes as someone we shouldn't assume is a must-play every week. This seems ridiculous, right? Bijan Robinson was supposed to be awesome, with size and speed and the skills to play all downs. The problem is the Falcons are really into sharing. They haven't given him the football enough. Allgeier is not a pass-catcher. Patterson is. Why are they involved? When will the Falcons raise Robinson's volume? What if they don't?

The Falcons travel to Nashville to face the Tennessee Titans this week. ESPN Fantasy confidently projects Robinson for 16.25 PPR points, 10th among running backs, nestled between the Giants' Saquon Barkley and the Raiders' Josh Jacobs. That's good, solid company. We should expect big things from Robinson, even though he has topped 13 PPR points in only one of his past five games. We can twist the facts however we want. Robinson may be great. The numbers say he hasn't quite been great. What happens in Week 8 and beyond? You're not going to sit Robinson this week, perhaps anytime soon, but if three Falcons running backs all get double-digit touches this week, then we may panic.