Recently drafted Auburn football running back Tank Bigsby was deemed a late-round fantasy football sleeper for the 2023 season by CBS Sports’ staff — who said No. 4 was worth “prioritizing” in the final rounds of regular drafts, and the second round of rookie-only drafts.
“Where Bigsby can immediately help the Jaguars is in the red zone, an area where Etienne struggled last season,” CBS Sports prefaced before saying, “If he can earn the red-zone role early, Bigsby is a great RB to prioritize drafting in the final rounds of your draft. In rookie-only fomats, Bigsby is worth considering late in Round 2.”
Bigsby may be undervalued in the NFL due to his decent if unspectacular stats while on the Plains. Those that followed his college career know that he was constantly behind substandard protection in a defensively-elite SEC the past three seasons, playing historic Alabama and Georgia teams in addition to traditionally defensive powers like LSU and Penn State (in the latter’s case, the last two). Bigsby was among the nation’s leaders in yards after contact in 2022, exemplifying how porous the run protection was.
Tank Bigsby can soar in NFL after struggling with Auburn football
The Bigsby Heisman hype that preceded the 2021 season was never capitalized on in any meaningful way as the Tigers’ offensive line progressively got worse throughout the Hogansville, Georgia native’s time in Auburn.
Now, with a Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line that has improved this offseason and a quarterback in Trevor Lawrence that can make the game easier than it’s ever been for him, Bigsby can surpass his collegiate career in short order.
Bigsby is a big what-if in AU’s lore, but when it’s all said and done, he’ll always be remembered as someone who decided to gut out the final year of the Bryan Harsin era and helped Cadillac Williams go 2-2 as the Tigers’ head coach. Though his career wasn’t what many thought it could or should have been, it will still be one that helped Auburn football fans feel excited about gameday when there was few other reasons to be.