Longhorns RB Bijan Robinson Draws Saquon Barkley Comparison

According to ESPN, Longhorns star Bijan Robinson could be the next Saquon Barkley

Matt Galatzan | Feb 27, 2023

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Texas Longhorns

Texas Longhorns star runningback Bijan Robinson might be the next superstar ball carrier in the NFL.

And according to ESPN, he is currently the only running back prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft that has a first-round grade.

However, they also took it one step further, listing Robinson's NFL comparison to that of New York Giants superstar, Saquon Barkley.

Bijan Robinson, Texas (No. 5)

Comp: Saquon Barkley

Robinson is the total package as a running back prospect. He plays with amazing patience but can also lower his shoulder with a 220-pound frame and create space for himself. Robinson's contact balance and vision in traffic are some of the best I've ever seen. He rushed for 1,580 rushing yards and 18 TDs this season, and he's also a very good receiving threat out of the backfield (314 receiving yards). There are few players more talented than Robinson in this year's class.

Barkley and Robinson indeed do have their similarities.

However, Robinson might also have an edge of Barkley that ESPN doesn't talk about.

His durability.

In his three seasons at Texas, Robinson was a pillar of health for the Longhorns, with his only real injury coming at the end of the 2021 season - a dislocated elbow - that forced him to miss the team's final two games.

And in 2022, Robinson played all 12 regular season games, putting together one of the best seasons in school history along the way.

Barkley meanwhile, has played just two full seasons in his five-year career.

So, if an NFL franchise can get a player of Barkley's talent (or perhaps even greater) that can actually stay on the field, the sky could be the limit for the team that takes the chance.

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Published Feb 27, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.