Falcons' Bijan Robinson hopes to have started trend after high selection

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The Atlanta Falcons on Thursday selected running back Bijan Robinson with the No. 8 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, making him the highest selected player at that position since Saquon Barkley went No. 2 to the New York Giants in 2018.

NFL teams have been maligned over the last few years for selecting running backs too high in the draft because running backs often have short careers. 

Robinson was taken eighth, and the Detroit Lions selected running back Jahmyr Gibbs in a surprise at No. 12.

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Atlanta Falcons first-round draft pick Bijan Robinson speaks at a news conference at the team's training facility in Flowery Branch, Ga., Friday, April 28, 2023.  (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

"I know the running back position in the top 10 is really, really rare. But, I mean, it's pretty cool to be a guy that can share that and to show the younger kids in college football, the younger running backs, that it's possible. You just got to do everything the right way and just be as effective as you can for their program," Robinson said Friday, via ESPN.

Robinson said he believed he and Gibbs could start a new trend in the NFL.

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Texas running back Bijan Robinson poses after being chosen by the Atlanta Falcons with the eighth overall pick of the NFL draft Thursday, April 27, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo.  (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

"Our games are kind of similar, and you can line us up anywhere on the field and be just a mismatch as we are at the running back position," Robinson added. "I see that's where the