Tank Bigsby has his eyes on the prize. Though still a rookie who has yet to take his first snap as an NFL player, the running back is overlooking personal accomplishments, instead setting his focus on team goals for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Do whatever I can do for us to win. Get to the playoffs. The Super Bowl. Do what I got to do,” the No. 88 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft said.
Bigsby recorded 2,903 yards and 25 touchdowns on the ground at Auburn and showed skill to catch the ball out of the backfield, recording 448 yards on 72 receptions for the Tigers.
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It’s a skillset he’s already displaying during offseason camp for Jacksonville. He was the featured back during rookie minicamp, earning starting reps and finding his way to the endzone multiple times.
He caught passes out of the backfield and navigated his way to touchdowns for his team.
“I wanted to show that I can do a lot of things as the back,” he said. “Just keep working, keep growing. Listen to the vets, listen to my coaches and do whatever I can do so I can get better every day.”
The Jaguars used their third-round pick on Bigsby in April to further stock players behind third-year back Travis Etienne. But the rookie brings something unique to the team, in his opinion.
“I bring the energy. I bring the juice and the winning. I want to win,” he said. “[I want to] get guys around me to win and have the same energy to compete. That’s what I bring to the table. I do whatever in my power for the team to win and lay it on the line every chance I get.”
SEC prepared him for NFL
Bigsby played in the SEC during college — the Power 5 conference long believed to be the toughest to play in and prepares college players to compete in the NFL.
He agrees and feels like his time at Auburn prepared him well to compete at the next level.
“It did, playing against the best guys every week and the offense is the same way we approached the offense,” Bigsby said. “So, it gets you ready. It definitely gets you ready. Up here guys play faster, quicker so you just have to adjust to it and go to work.”
When asked if he had a favorite moment in college Bigsby paused for a moment. His reply wasn’t a moment, but a decision rather.
“Just going to Auburn. It made me the man I am today,” he said. “We had adversity but at the end of the day, it made me a better man, stronger man. I’m happy for it.”
His time at Auburn might’ve prepared him for the league, but it’s how hard he worked that gave him the new opportunity that’s in front of him. There were first-hand witnesses to the extra preparation Bigsby put forth.
“I will tell you he is one of the hardest workers that I’ve been around. The way that our building was in Auburn, the practice field is right outside and about every single day in the summer, when most of the time guys go to their workout and they’ll go and do maybe a little seven on seven or something maybe twice a week, about every single day [he was working,]” former Auburn LB coach Christian Robinson told the Times-Union.
Though he coached the opposite side of the ball, Bigsby’s work ethic spoke to Robinson.
“And then on the weekends. When we have visitors on campus, he would be training out there on Saturdays and sometimes Sundays,” Robinson continued. “I think in any profession, especially in football, it’s about how many reps of something you can get and to see somebody that spends their weekends and their time not in class in the summer. That just shows a commitment level that to their craft, and he runs that way. He’s done the work and he runs hard. I don’t think there’ll be many people that outwork him.”
That hard work might lead to Bigsby seeing the field sooner than later as the Jaguars’ try to shave some of the wear and tear on Etienne’s legs.
And that hard work could lead to Jacksonville — and Bigsby — achieving some of those team goals like making the playoffs or the Super Bowl.
Juston Lewis is a sports reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @JustonLewis_.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars rookie RB Tank Bigsby dedicated to winning, not selfishness
