Game Of Throws: Falcons' Robinson a popular Offensive Player of the Year bet at FanDuel

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won the NFC South in each of the previous four seasons.

The Atlanta Falcons are the best bet to end the Bucs streak of division dominance this upcoming season.

If the Falcons are going to live up to the hype as the second choice to win the NFC South behind Tampa, they’ll need their biggest offensive threats to dominate.

Michael Penix Jr. took over as the starting quarterback late in his rookie season and showed signs of promise.

Realistically, it would have been difficult for Penix to give them any less than they got from Kirk Cousins, who was severely limited in his return from a torn Achilles tendon.

The eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft wasn’t shy to air it out and his mobility should remain a key asset moving forward for an offence that was far too stagnant and predictable with Cousins under centre.

Despite the inconsistencies, 2022 first round pick Drake London still registered his first 1,000+ yard NFL season.

London finished with 100 receptions for 1,271 yards – the fourth-best mark in the entire NFL.

The arrival of Darnell Mooney and the emergence of Ray-Ray McCloud helped compliment London at the position.

Perhaps this is the year 2021 first round pick tight end Kyle Pitts finally gets back to flirting with 1,000 yards.

Meanwhile, all eyes will be on Atlanta’s 2023 first round pick Bijan Robinson, who lived up to the hype as the most productive running back in fantasy football leagues from Week 6 onwards last season.

Robinson finished with 1,456 rushing yards and 14 rushing scores in his second NFL season.

He also caught 61 passes for 431 yards and a score. FanDuel set Robinson’s regular season rushing yards prop at over/under 1200.5 and his regular season rushing touchdowns prop at over/under 10.5.

Meanwhile, Robinson to win AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year is +1500 as the sixth choice at FanDuel.

I bet on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase to win that award earlier this summer.

Robinson is the third-most popular bet to win that award at FanDuel behind Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs at +1300 and Chase at +800.

85 per cent of the bets in the Falcons regular season win total market are on the overs.

The Atlanta defence remains a work in progress but one that appears to be headed in the right direction under head coach Raheem Morris and new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.

The Falcons used their two first round picks on defensive ends Jalon Walker and James Pearce.

Atlanta needs its rookie pass rushers to provide an immediate impact after they ranked 31st in the NFL in sacks last season.

Offence remains the Falcons biggest strength, and if Robinson remains healthy, he should be in line for another dominant season.

While he should top 1,000 yards rushing once again, I believe Atlanta would benefit from getting him the football in space as a receiver a lot more this season.

Despite a small dip in targets from his rookie season, Robinson still finished with 61 catches for 431 receiving yards and one touchdown in 2024.

I’ll lock in Robinson to go over 375.5 receiving yards as a FanDuel Best Bet for this season.

Hopefully, we’ll see the third year running back flirt with 500 receiving yards again the way he did as a rookie.

If he can build on last year’s impressive numbers, Robinson will be on the short list of contenders for the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.

That type of production would certainly go a long way towards helping the Falcons contend for an NFC South title and end the Bucs division dominance.