Tank Bigsby drafted No. 88 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars
Former Auburn running back Tank Bigsby has been selected as the No. 88 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He found his way into the third round after seeing projections further out in the draft.
Bigsby is the first running back selected in the NFL Draft since Kerryon Johnson in 2018. Former Auburn running back Peyton Barber is another notable player who had a good NFL career, but he went undrafted.
Bigsby went a little higher than his draft projection by going in the third round.
Bigsby at Auburn
In three years with the Tigers, Bigsby rushed for 2,903 and 25 touchdown on 540 carries. His best season at Auburn came in 2021, when he finished with 1,099 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. In 2022, Bigbsy gained 970 rushing yards and was named third-team All-SEC by Pro Football Focus.
He had a career average at Auburn of 5.4 yards per carry.
He finished his career No. 7 on the Tigers’ all-time rushing leaders list.
Bigsby was a complete back for the Tigers. He added 62 career receptions for 448 yards.
Bigsby committed to Auburn in the summer of 2019, and then the Tigers of then-coach Gus Malzahn held off Georgia late to keep him in the class. Bigsby was the No. 37 overall recruit nationally in the 2020 class and No. 4 running back for the On3 Consensus.
He quickly made an impact at Auburn.
As a true freshman, Bigsby was the SEC Freshman of the Year after finishing eighth in the SEC in all-purpose yardage (122.4 yards per game) and fifth in total rushing yards (834). He had the second most rushing yards of any FBS freshman that season.
As a sophomore, Bigsby topped the 100-yard mark five times. He did it again four more times in 2022, despite playing behind an offensive line that wasn’t among the league’s best. All told, Bigsby had 13 100-yard rushing games for the orange and blue.
Following the 2021 season, Bigsby won the team’s Pat Sullivan Award as the Tigers’ offensive player of the year.
Bigsby’s NFL capability
Bigsby has been the bell-cow for Auburn’s offense for the last three years. Even as a freshman, Bigsby was turned to as the back when a big play was needed.
Bigsby is excellent at running through arm tackles and picking up extra yards. He has had issues with his vision as a zone running back. That was thought to be an issue when translating to the next level, but a strong pro-day helped him slide up in the draft.
Bigsby does not have breakaway speed, but he has excellent acceleration. He is a threat to break off a 20-40 yard run from anywhere on the field. In the NFL, this is a key skill.
Bigbsy will excel as an outside zone running back, but will need to improve as a between the tackles runner in the inside zone runner. If he fixes that, he will earn carries immediately at Jacksonville.
