Tyler Allgeier sets new Falcons rookie rushing yardage record in season finale

Tyler Allgeier started the 2022 season as a healthy scratch. He finishes off the season as the new rookie record holder for rushing yards, surpassing the great William Andrews late in the fourth quarter of Week 18 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With another physical carry in the second half, Allgeier reached 135 yards on the day, just squeaking by Andrews. It is one of the great seasons in franchise history, if I may be so bold.

Allgeier, a fifth round pick out of BYU, was expected to get significant run in his first season but found himself behind Cordarrelle Patterson and Damien Williams on the depth chart, which meant he was inactive in Week 1. After Williams was hurt—and with Patterson suffering an injury shortly thereafter—Allgeier took on a prominent role and simply got better and better as the season went on. He hasn’t put up fewer than 70 yards in any of his past four games, and he managed a pair of 100 yard efforts over that span as the clear-cut top option on the ground. Paired with his capable work as a receiver and his better-than-expected blocking, that physical and potent rushing has made Allgeier one of Atlanta’s most feared weapons.

He’ll head into 2023 as the top back on the depth chart, even if the Falcons wind up adding more talent, and should have a productive future for a team that loves to run the ball. Huge congratulations to Allgeier for setting the record here at the end of the season, and let’s hope this is just the beginning of something special in Atlanta. 8