Jaguars News: Are Expectations Being Tempered For Tank Bigsby's Role?

Tank Bigsby has been a standout this offseason and training camp, but could the Jaguars coaches be hitting the brakes on his hype train?

Tank Bigsby will certainly have a role on the Jacksonville Jaguars' offense. The question before Week 1 is just how prominent that role may be. 

There seems to be some divide on the potential answer, depending on who you ask. Fantasy analysts seem to be fighting from both sides of the fence on whether Bigsby will steal carries from Travis Etienne or whether Etienne will continue as the lead back. The Jaguars' coaching staff, meanwhile, has seemingly thrown water on the idea of Bigsby having a massively expanded role, at least this early on in his career.  

"No, I think you’ve still got to be careful with how much you expand his role. I think he’s done a nice job so far, there’s still some learning to do and some growing to do as a rookie," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Wednesday.  

"Keeping him where he is right now is a good thing and expand maybe as you go. We’re only two weeks into camp and there’s a lot of football ahead of us, so we’re just going to pump the brakes and make sure he’s good with what he can handle.”

Training camp has reflected Travis Etienne as the Jaguars starter and lead back, if such a thing exists in the structure of the Jaguars' offense. It has also established Bigsby as his top backup, with the rookie running back leaping over JaMycal Hasty for the No. 2 role.

But for now it seems that the No. 2 role is as large as it will get for Bigsby, at least early on in his career. Perhaps that changes during the season as Bigsby gets more experience, but the Jaguars are a playoff team with a veteran running back already entrenched as the starter. As a result, there might not be an overbearing pressure to expand Bigsby's role early in his career.

"We have always just kind of been, the guy who is making plays will get carries. And that is going to start with Travis first and foremost, and then you will just see a number of guys continue to get a number of opportunities behind that," Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said on Thursday.

"But it is a lot of times the flow of the game, the health of a player. You ride the hot hand, that is something we have definitely not been opposed to at any point in time. So whoever can contribute to winning is who is going to get the opportunities is kind of the biggest way to say it. Whether that is 50/50, 60/40, 70/30, I think that is really a case-by-case, game-by-game basis."

If there is a potential role for Bigsby other than as Etienne's backup, it would likely be in short-yardage scenarios. Etienne was inefficient as a goal-line back last season, which could be the small opening Bigsby needs to carve out a significant spot on the offense. But if he doesn't, then it might take some ti,e.

"That was a big part of our offseason study and focus and developing of this offense. We were somewhere between 18th and 25th or something in the league in short-yardage production, which is not good enough. And our guys understand that," Taylor said. 

"So targeting a back that brought a physical element in addition to Travis and Hasty and the guys we have was certainly a thought process, and Tank has kind of shown that so far."

A four-star recruit who was the No. 4 running back in the 2020 recruiting class behind just Bijan Robinson, Zach Evans and Demarckus Bowman, Bigsby was named the SEC Freshman of the year in 2020 after he appeared in 10 games and carried the ball 138 times for 834 yards and five touchdowns, averaging six yards per carry.

Bigsby started 13 games in 2021, averaging 4.9 yards per carry on 223 carries, recording 1,099 yards and 10 touchdowns, along with 21 catches for 184 yards.

Bigsby returned as a starter in 2022, starting 11 games and leading Auburn in rushing with 970 yards, 5.4 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns.