Tanking it to the Lions: Jaguars rookie back Tank Bigsby has another big preseason game

There were times he ran like a Tank.

But he also showed deft changes of direction, sharp cuts and the subtle art of making tacklers miss by mere inches.

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie running back Tank Bigsby had another good preseason outing on Saturday in a 25-7 victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, continuing to justify his selection in the third round from Auburn and showing additional promise of forming a potent one-two punch in the regular season with Travis Etienne.

One long gain nullified

Bigsby gained 70 yards on 13 carries, all in the first half, and had big runs on two drives that ended with Brandon McManus field goals.

Bigsby had a 17-yard gain on the first scoring drive — two plays after a 17-yard run was nullified because of a holding penalty on Tim Jones.

Jones atoned for that flag by pulling in a 48-yard pass from C.J. Beathard on the next play. Bigsby broke off his longest official gain of the day on the following play and McManus eventually booted a 40-yard field goal.

Later in the second period Bigsby had gains of 11 and 5 yards to the Detroit 10 and after he was stopped for no gain, McManus added another field goal.

Bigsby has 122 yards on 12 carries in the two preseason games, averaging 10.2 yards per carry.

Roster spots up for grabs

Bigsby gained the most rushing yards in a Jaguars preseason game since 2019 when Elijah Hood had 71 yards on eight carries against Atlanta. The year before Brandon Wilds had 88 yards against Tampa Bay.

It's worth noting that Hood and Wilds turned in those totals in the final preseason games and were cut. The last time a Jaguars player had more yards than Bigsby in the preseason and then made the team was Corey Grant in 2017, who had 120 yards on eight carries in the opener against New England.

Bigsby is in no danger of not making the team. Indeed, he's been showing the same burst, cutting ability and a nose for small windows in the line since the beginning of training camp.

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said Bigsby may just be scratching the surface.

"He still has some room to grow, obviously," he said. "There are some things we can show him on tape and he’s just continuing to get better. We wanted to see extensive reps with him today, and again, this is the first time some of these guys have played this much football. You see the physicality, the conditioning, the mental capacity, but I thought he did some really good things for us and some things we can correct and continue to improve.”

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Behind Etienne and Bigsby are four players fighting for perhaps three spots:

• D'Ernest Johnson, a fifth-year veteran, keeps playing like he wants to be in the mix. Johnson gained 36 yards on six carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 1 and 15 yards in the second half against the Lions.

• JaMycal Hasty, who had a knack for big plays in limited time last season (three touchdowns last season, one on a 28-yard pass reception and another on a 61-yard run), is still here but he's had only four rushes for 8 yards and two receptions for 7 yards in the preseason.

• Snoop Connor, the team's 2022 fifth-round pick, is also battling for a roster job in the final four preseason practices this week, and the final preseason game on Aug. 26 at home against Miami (7 p.m., CBS-47).

• Qadree Ollison, who caught Nathan Rourke's improbable TD pass last week against Dallas, also has experience with five years in the league.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Tank Bigsby batters Lions for 70 first-half yards in Jaguars preseason