Tank Bigsby has ‘an appropriate name

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Tank Bigsby has ‘an appropriate name,’ Jaguars coordinator says

Updated: Aug. 17, 2024, 9:11 a.m.|Published: Aug. 17, 2024, 9:00 a.m.

5–7 minutes

As a rookie in 2023, running back Tank Bigsby played only 12 percent of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive snaps. In Jacksonville’s preseason opener last week, Bigsby played only one series.

But that doesn’t mean the former Auburn ball-carrier won’t have a bigger role for the Jaguars in the 2024 NFL season.

Bigsby followed Travis Etienne at running back in Jacksonville’s 26-13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 10. He played seven offensive snaps and handled the football four times – catching one pass that lost 1 yard and posting gains of 9 and 19 yards on the ground before being stopped for no gain.

Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said on Tuesday that Bigsby had built on his rookie season.

“I think it’s just a continuation of the development we’ve seen from him and what we expected,” Taylor said. “As he got into training camp, he runs hard. He’s very physical. Tank is an appropriate name for him. So I think he’s just continued to grow and develop, and you see that – just like all those second-year players.

“They look like different players. They’re the same guy, but things slow down. They’re confident in the system. They’re confident in the things we’re asking them to do. They’re confident in their ability to go play. And so you see a little bit more looseness, I guess, with the guys and the way they operate in pregame, the way they play. There’s not the big eyes. It’s kind of they know they belong at this point in time.

“That was cool to see. As each quarter went on, different guys made plays and had opportunities, so that was just fun so see, and you expect another week of that now as we get into it and more guys to do that.”

The Jaguars’ preseason continues against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 6:30 p.m. CDT Saturday at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

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Bigsby led Auburn in rushing in each of his three seasons on the Plains. He completed his career for the Tigers with 2,903 yards and 25 touchdowns on 540 rushing attempts and 448 yards on 62 receptions

After joining the Jaguars in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Bigsby ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 50 carries and caught one pass for 6 yards while playing in every game of his rookie season.

Etienne dominated the snaps at running back for Jacksonville in 2023. Etienne ran for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns on 267 carries and caught 58 passes for 476 yards and one touchdown as he played 73 percent of Jacksonville’s offensive snaps.

Etienne said he could see a “night-and-day” difference in Bigsby, who’s “going to be a vital part for us to be able to be a great team.”

“Whenever you’re coming from college to the NFL, you’re used to being the big guy on campus,” Etienne said at training camp, “and then when you get to NFL, it’s kind of like being that freshman all over again. Like, no one really cares who you are. No one really knows who you are. You got to kind of just rebrand yourself. And I feel like last year was a kind of learning curve for him, because he was always the guy at Auburn since he came in, so he never really had a guy like me in the running-back room with him, so for him to just understand that he just needs to lock in and do his part, I feel like he really learned. And I could just tell, just the way that he’s been just approaching the game, and I feel like (running-backs coach Jerry Mack) is just helping him a lot, just getting his IQ so much more further along.

“And you can see it in his play. He’s making a lot of plays out there on the field for us, just the way he’s been reading, just way he’s been hitting the hole, just him catching the ball, looking the ball in. I feel like it’s night and day from where he was last year.”

The Jaguars are carrying six running backs on their preseason roster, including D’Ernest Johnson, who played 53 more offensive snaps than Bigsby in 2023 while running for 108 yards on 41 carries and catching 10 passes for 140 yards.

The Jacksonville running backs also include rookie Keilan Robinson, a fifth-round draft choice from Texas who started his college career at Alabama.

Etienne said he thought he and Bigsby could form a potent one-two punch.

“Anytime you can have two guys out there just being who they are as players, that’s really great for the team,” Etienne said. “I was thinking about Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Both guys in the same system going over a thousand yards, and I feel like: Why can’t that be us? And I feel like it’s only going to help the team be so much better, and when I come out of the game, Tank still brings a threat, and I just feel like it’s going to help propel us further.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.