Heading into the 2021 campaign under new head coach Bryan Harsin, Auburn Tigers running back Tank Bigsby was among the best-returning players at the position. It was a toss-up as to who was viewed as the top sophomore running back along with Kansas State’s Deuce Vaughn and Texas’ Bijan Robinson.
Essentially came down to what is your favorite flavor of ice cream. Each of them has their strengths. All three were among the various Freshman All-American teams.
Unfortunately, Bigsby didn’t have the season that many expected in his second season on the Plains. He would finish the year with more yards than his freshman year but it didn’t seem to meet those high expectations. His yards per carry dropped from 6.0 as a freshman to 4.9 in 2021. Bigsby was more productive as a receiver, averaging 8.8 yards per reception out of the backfield.
After starting the season with three-straight 100-yard performances, he would add just two more over the final nine games. In that stretch, Auburn finished 4-6. Not all of the failures can be tied to Bigsby as he was slowed down by an injured offensive line that underperformed.
Looking to the 2022 campaign, Tank was named No. 10 of the top 10 returning running backs by Pro Football Focus.
What PFF Says…
Bigsby will be looking for a bounce-back season in 2022 after a disappointing true sophomore season in 2021. He went from generating 0.24 WAA in 2020 to -0.08 this past season. For reference, that’s the difference between the 96th and 25th percentile among FBS players at the position. A shift in offensive philosophy under the new regime could have played a part in that — Bigsby ran a zone concept on 76% of his runs in 2020 to just 52% in 2021. The Auburn star has every bit of a chance to become a first-team All-American in 2022.
The team will likely be looking to rely on Bigsby quite a bit in 2022 with the quarterback situation. It could be one of four guys taking snaps under center for Auburn. Zach Calzada has the most experience of any of the passers on the roster. He took over for Haynes King at Texas A&M last year after suffering an injury against the Colorado Buffaloes.
Either way, this is a make-or-break year for the former four-star running back from Georgia. Along with Jarquez Hunter, this duo should be one of the better one-two punches in the SEC.
[listicle id=39964]