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Dalton native Jahmyr Gibbs, Falcons draft pick Bijan Robinson valued as versatile backs

AP photo by Erin Hooley / From left, running backs Eric Gray of Oklahoma, Bijan Robinson of Texas and Jahmyr Gibbs of Alabama pose at the NFL combine on March 5 in Indianapolis. Robinson was picked eighth by the Atlanta Falcons and Gibbs was selected 12th by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night in Kansas City, Mo.
AP photo by Erin Hooley / From left, running backs Eric Gray of Oklahoma, Bijan Robinson of Texas and Jahmyr Gibbs of Alabama pose at the NFL combine on March 5 in Indianapolis. Robinson was picked eighth by the Atlanta Falcons and Gibbs was selected 12th by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night in Kansas City, Mo.

By JOSH DUBOW / The Associated Press 4 min read

Jahmyr Gibbs was as surprised as anyone Thursday night when the call came that the Detroit Lions were taking him the No. 12 pick of the NFL draft.

As a running back, Gibbs was resigned to the fact that he might have to wait until at least the 20s to get picked in the pass-happy league.

“I was still just talking to my friends, then the call hit me and I was shocked,” said Gibbs, a record-breaking high school star in Dalton, Georgia, before playing two years at Georgia Tech and this past season at Alabama. “Didn’t know I would get picked as high as I did because, you know, running backs don’t really get picked as high in this new-age era of NFL draft. Yeah, it was pretty shocking to me.”

For one night at least, running backs got some of the glory in the airborne NFL.

In an era when what used to be one of the premier positions in football has taken a back seat to others, Gibbs and Bijan Robinson broke the trend and went off the board quickly during the first round of the draft in Kansas City, Missouri.