AUSTIN — For nearly eight decades now, Roswell, N.M., has been synonymous with otherworldly beings. Back in 1947, the tale goes, the U.S. government allegedly retrieved a metallic flying saucer — an “unidentified flying object” — in the desert after it crashed down from the cosmos, an incident that sparked all manner of wild conspiracy theories still debated to this day.
Eric Rogers wasn’t looking for UFOs or extraterrestrial beings when he drove out to “The Alien Capital of the World” in May 2016 for the massive “Hike It and Spike It” youth flag football tournament. Even so, the current head football coach at Salpointe Catholic in Tucson, Ariz., saw something out of this world while attending the event with his kids that weekend.
All of a sudden, people were coming up to Rogers and imploring him to check out this remarkable eighth grader named Bijan Robinson. And what Rogers witnessed was, well, hard to believe.
“I’ll never forget, he goes up and jumps — at the time, it felt like 10 feet in the air — and grabs this ball one-handed in the back of the end zone and comes down right in front of us because we were behind the end zone watching,” Rogers said last week. “I looked at my son and I’m like, ‘Uh, did you see that? Oh. My. Gosh.’”
Unlike whatever plummeted down into Roswell so many years ago, there’s no debate about Robinson’s authenticity on the eve of the 2023 NFL draft.
Come Thursday night, the junior running back will likely be the first Texas Longhorn to hear his name called in the first round since defensive lineman Malcom Brown went 32nd overall in 2015. Incredibly, Robinson would be the program’s first offensive first rounder since Tennessee selected quarterback Vince Young with the third pick in 2006.
A unanimous All-American and the Doak Walker award winner in 2022, Robinson isn’t just the best halfback in this year’s class — he’s one of the best backfield prospects in years. In an age where the running back-by-committee is en vogue, with fewer teams than ever spending precious early round picks on a position with an average NFL shelf life of around three years, the flying phenom Rogers first spotted soaring through the sky in Roswell has teams rethinking the current reality.
“We’re talking about a top-five talent in this class who can break free with burst through the hole, make defenders miss with his strength and haul in passes with his reliable hands,” ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said. “I think he’s more talented and complete than Saquon Barkley was, and he was the No. 2 overall pick (in 2018).”
When Robinson saunters onto the stage to shake hands with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday night at Union State in Kansas City, Mo., he’s going to make one fanbase exceptionally happy.
Over the past three years, the 6-foot, 222-pound Robinson showcased a game with zero holes.
He’s built like a heavyweight UFC fighter, broad and sinewy, with the footwork of a nimble ballet dancer and balance of a high-wire aerialist. Robinson’s hands and route-running ability, as Rogers could attest, are head and shoulders above others at his position. And he demonstrated dramatic improvement as a pass blocker last year while working with first-year running backs coach and former Dallas Cowboy Tashard Choice.
Robinson’s game film is essentially one movie-length reel of jaw-dropping plays. There’s one-handed catches, bulldozing runs, improbable escapes, wicked whirl moves and just about anything else a pro scout could hope to see. Like idol and Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, Robinson could even electrify with a “mundane” 1- or 2-yard run while escaping tacklers behind the line of scrimmage.
Again, no holes. And off the field, everyone who’s had a chance to met Robinson will tell you he’s an even better man than he is a football player.
“He’s an unbelievable human being,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He’s selfless and he brings that onto the field with him. It’s not about Bijan. It’s not about how many touchdowns he scores. It’s about the team. He cares so much for his teammates that I think, ultimately, his teammates play for him, too. In the end, I think that’s what makes him unique.”
Everyone, it seems, has a Robinson story. And not just from watching him put up video game numbers at Salpointe Catholic, where he became the first player in Arizona history to twice win the Ed Doherty Award as the state’s top player, or at Texas, where he gained 3,410 rushing yards (fourth all-time) and 4,215 tandem yards (fourth) with 41 touchdowns (tied-third) in just 31 games.
Former Olympian turned strength trainer Carla Garrett still remembers one of the first times she watched Robinson squat.
Garrett represented the U.S. in discus throwing at the 1992 Summer Games and was a world-class weightlifter before becoming the “secret weapon” for Salpointe Catholic athletics. During one training session, out of the blue, a young, bright-eyed Robinson asked if he could try squatting 400 pounds.
“He goes down with some of the worst technique I’ve ever seen,” Garrett said, laughing at the absurdity of it all these years later. “But then he stands up with it like it’s 100 pounds, like nothing. He’d do things that normal people can’t do with ease. And, you know, he did it with a great attitude and a smile on his face every day.”
Robinson, of course, improved that shoddy squat form over the years. He’s got quads thicker than Redwoods these days, another testament to the work ethic that has so impressed pro scouts and coaches during the months leading into the biggest night of his life.
It will be a monumental night for one NFL franchise, too. And maybe a frightful one for some others. There’s apparently more than a few team executives who fear Robinson will land with a Super Bowl contender like Philadelphia and push the franchise over the top.
“When I talked to several teams over the weekend in the NFC, they do not want the Eagles to draft Bijan Robinson,” NFL Network’s James Palmer said Monday. “They believe that would make this offense beyond scary.”
Whatever team gets lucky enough to land Robinson will get a remarkable talent who does the sort of things that might make you think, just for a second, that he’s not actually of this world.
“It’s definitely been a heck of a ride,” Robinson said of his three years at Texas. “Now it’s time to start the new journey. And I’m just excited to go figure out another part of my life just like I tried to figure it out here.”
Twitter: @NRmoyle
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
