Atlanta Falcons: How many snaps will Bijan Robinson play tonight?

As soon as Bijan Robinson was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons everyone could not wait for the day that we would see him on the field.

Although it is preseason, that day has come. Head coach Arthur Smith confirmed that Bijan would see his first action in Mercedes-Benz Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals tonight. With that being said, how many snaps can we expect to see from the talented rookie?

Predicting the snap count for Atlanta Falcons rookie Bijan Robinson

Bijan Robinson will finally make his debut tonight when the Atlanta Falcons host the Cincinnati Bengals. Head coach Arthur Smith has confirmed that the healthy starters will play in the game after sitting out last week's game.

Smith said that they will not be showing off everything that Bijan can do and will just keep it simple, in order to keep the competitive advantage for week one and beyond.

"We're not going to go crazy, we just need the reps. We need to get our bread-and-butter concepts in there and he'll see his tracks. We're not going to sit there and show everything but we need to execute well."

- Arthur Smith

Clearly, that is the best plan; there is no need to give the Carolina Panthers extra film to work with leading up to the week one matchup.

However, this still doesn't answer the question of how many snaps the rookie will play in his debut.

This is really uncharted territory for this coaching staff. In 2021, rookie Kyle Pitts only played two snaps in preseason and those came in the third week. And in 2022, rookie Drake London came out and played five snaps in preseason week one before injuring his knee after making his first catch.

In simple terms, the Falcons last two first-round rookies played a total of seven snaps. I would expect Bijan to break those seven snaps. He plays a position that requires a lot of feel for the speed around him. Getting him used to the speed of the Bengals' defenders will be crucial.

Without much prior data to go on, it is hard to say how much the eighth-overall pick will play. If I had to guess, I would say that you shouldn't expect him to play past the first quarter. Maybe he will see action during the first two drives—anything extra will be a bonus.

In terms of a snap count, expect it to be under 20. Again, this is a total guess considering that I have no idea what the coaching staff's intentions are but keep your expectations low so that you aren't disappointed when he comes off the field for the game.