NFL Media chooses Bijan Robinson as potential MVP candidate

So you’re saying…there’s a chance?

It’s July, and we’re just days away from the start of the Atlanta Falcons’ 2025 Training Camp.

This is that golden stretch of the calendar when hope runs high across all 32 NFL teams. It’s also the perfect time to play a little projection game: Which player could make a legit MVP case from each franchise?

NFL Media’s Eric Edholm recently took a stab at that very question, naming one MVP-caliber talent from every roster. Some picks were obvious; no one needs to argue on behalf of Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen. But others? They required a bit more imagination, especially when the player in question isn’t a quarterback.

Edholm didn’t shy away from the cold truth: Quarterbacks run the MVP table. Twelve straight MVPs have gone to QBs, and 49 of the 68 total winners (72%) have played the position. With the modern passing game evolving the way it has, it’s tough to envision a non-quarterback taking home the award.

Case in point: Saquon Barkley.

Last season, Barkley racked up a staggering 2,283 yards from scrimmage — the most since Christian McCaffrey’s historic 2019 season — including 2,005 rushing yards, making him just the ninth player in NFL history to eclipse 2,000.

And he still finished third.

So with all that said, when it comes to the Falcons, you’d think the natural MVP pick would be second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr., right?

Well…maybe.

Sure, the world only got a three-game sample of Penix, but those three starts were electric. They arrived just as Kirk Cousins was putting together one of the roughest stretches of his career. From Weeks 10–15, Cousins ranked 30th in adjusted EPA/play among 32 qualified QBs (per rbsdm.com), ahead of only Cooper Rush and Drew Lock. He also ranked dead last in Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt (ANY/A) among QBs with 100+ passes over that span.

Penix didn’t light up the stat sheet; he threw for three touchdowns and three picks, and went 1–2, but there was a jolt of life in the offense that had clearly been missing.

Even so, Edholm bypassed the young QB and instead zeroed in on Atlanta’s true offensive centerpiece:

Bijan Robinson

2024 Stats: 1,887 total yards (4th in NFL) • 1,456 rushing yards (3rd) • 304 carries • 4.8 YPC • 60.2% rushing success rate (1st among RBs, 3rd overall)

Some will disagree with this choice, and given that only three running backs have won an MVP award since 2001 (and none since 2012), history is on my skeptics’ side. Look at Saquon Barkley last year — he racked up 2,283 yards from scrimmage, registered just the ninth 2,000-yard rushing season in league annals … and finished third in the balloting.

It’s going to take a Barkley-esque yardage total and 20-plus TDs, I suspect, for Robinson to be a serious candidate. But I like his chances better right now than those of Michael Penix Jr., a talented but unproven quarterback. He’s probably capable of a Joe Burrow-like Year 2, but expecting that level of individual success is just a big leap for me at the moment.

Now, history isn’t on Bijan’s side. Only three running backs have won MVP since 2001, and none since Adrian Peterson in 2012. Even Barkley’s historic campaign couldn’t crack the top two last year.

But if anyone can do it, Bijan might be that guy.

He’s already off to a blazing start. Through his first two years, he’s racked up 3,350 total yards, ranking 15th all-time in that category, and remains one of the most complete backs in football. He’s a lineman’s dream: tough, decisive, creative.

One of my favorite parts of his film? The number of times he turned what should’ve been a run for no gain or even a loss, into a burst of seven, or more, yards.

And now, with Penix in the picture, maybe that ceiling gets even higher.

Of course, it’s worth noting that Atlanta’s final three games last year came against three of the six worst run defenses in football — defenses that allowed over 12.5% of all the rushing yards in the league last season.

But here’s the thing: the contrast between those games and what the Falcons were under Cousins gives us something we haven’t had in a while: hope.

Hope that under second-year OC Zac Robinson, this offense might finally hit its stride.

Former Falcons legend Michael Turner sees it, too. Just last month, he compared the Bijan–Allgeier tandem to the Chargers days of LaDainian Tomlinson and himself — a dynamic one-two punch built on complementary skill sets and shared trust.

If Bijan is stepping into that LT territory, and Penix continues to grow into his role, we could be talking about more than just a strong season.

We might be talking about something special.