Terry Fontenot details how Falcons landed Bijan Robinson

The trade bar was high. Why? There was a consensus in the draft room that Robinson was the guy, and Fontenot’s advisors were adamant about it.

“We’re always looking for passion and conviction,” Fontenot said. “When you have that from the coaches, from the front office, from everyone involved, about a player and you know the impact he’s going to make, you want to stick there and pick him.”

Fontenot declined all offers and officially made the selection as scheduled. Then he called Robinson an expressed an important point: “You fit here.”

That’s true in several ways. A running back brimming with positivity will fit right into the team’s organizational culture. He’ll fit in well with the locker room. His skill set will fit with a young group of skill players who will grow up together. He’ll fit in well with Arthur Smith’s creative play designs.

The Falcons are looking for more than talent when acquiring players. Robinson’s one talented dude, but he’s more than that. He just fits what the Falcons are about.

Fontenot knew that to be true after interacting with him several times during the pre-draft process, most notably during a trip to Austin, Texas with Falcons brass. They got a chance to work Robinson out, to take him to dinner and really get to know him. They talked to others who know him well, receiving rave reviews about the person and the player.

That heightened the level of conviction Robinson was the pick, someone they didn’t want to lose over the additional assets presented in pre-draft trade talks.

Fontenot didn’t wake up Thursday morning anxious about how the first round would go. He didn’t lose sleep the night before, tossing and turning over things he couldn’t control.

The Falcons had done their homework. They had researched the top of the draft and knew the direction they wanted to go in the first round. All they had to do was be patient, read the draft well and then execute.

They wanted Robinson. Ultimately they got him.

“This was the desired end,” Fontenot said. “This is really exciting, man. It’s really exciting.”