JD PicKell: Texas is going to feed Bijan Robinson this season

It’s no secret that the Texas offense runs through Bijan Robinson. The Longhorns running back was one of the lone bright spots from last year’s 5-7 finish, totaling 1,422 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns.

Heading into his second season, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has made it clear that his strategy is to get the ball in Robinson’s hands as much as possible. As On3’s JD PicKell explained in a recent video, that will give the Longhorns the best chance at finding success in 2022.

“First and foremost, they’re trying to feed Bijan,” PicKell said. “Steve Sarkisian has made no bones about it. He’s been very clear. He said, ‘Bijan Robinson we want to get around 20 touches a game.’ Some games it might be more like 30. That’s in the run game (and) in the pass game.

“To put a finer point on this, they want to run the football, establish the trenches and be able to assert their will with the offensive line running ahead of Bijan Robinson. If five is touching the ball a lot in the run game and getting downhill, good things are happening for your offense. If you’re able to do that on first and second down, even better. That’s their bread and butter. That’s what they want everything else to span from and that makes a whole lot of sense.”

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PicKell noted that Sarkisian has taken this approach before when he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama. During the Crimson Tide’s national championship season in 2020, tailback Najee Harris was utilized heavily as both a runner and pass catcher, averaging 22.6 touches per game. Harris went on to become a first round pick in 2021 and currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Bijan Robinson has already started to garner NFL attention from his two seasons at Texas and is a projected top 15 pick according to a recent ESPN mock draft. He was also named the Big 12’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year for 2022. With that in mind, it seems like a no-brainer to get the ball in his hands as often as possible.

“Bijan Robinson is your best player on offense,” PicKell said. “Probably your best player on your whole team. This is not a new concept for Steve Sarkisian. We saw him do it with Najee Harris at Alabama. They want to feed those backs especially when they can feed them in multiple distributions. Passing the ball, running the ball — they want to feed them the rock.”

The Longhorns will kick off the 2022 season on Sept. 3 against Louisiana-Monroe.