By Mike Bonts
JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wire) –The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Brenton Strange, a tight end from Penn State and Tank Bigsby, a running back from Auburn in the second round of the NFL Draft.
The Jaguars selected Strange with the No. 61 pick.
“I think the history of the tight ends I’ve had, whether in Philly, obviously my career going back to Green
Bay, being around good tight ends, being on offenses that have had good tight ends, it’s an integral part
of the offense,” noted Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson. “You become very versatile with multiple tight ends, guys that are athletic, guys that you can move around, create the matchups that you want.”
The All-Big Ten selection became the second Penn State tight end drafted in the last three years after Pat Freiermuth was taken by the Steelers in the second round in 2021.
Strange hauled in 70 receptions for 755 yards and 11 scores during his four-year career in Happy Valley.
The Parkersburg, West Virginia, native recorded a catch in 36 of 44 games he appeared in, with career highs of six catches and 80 yards coming against Auburn in 2022.
In three seasons on the Plains, Bigsby rushed for 2,903 yards and scored 25 touchdowns. His 2,903 yards rank seventh all-time in school history.
“Bigsby is another one that we met at the Combine. Just love the way he runs. He’s a smart guy. He understands fronts, defense, knows what he’s looking at. He’s a smart runner. Just have to get him in here and get him started,” added Pederson.
At Auburn, Bigsby quickly established himself as the Tigers’ No. 1 running back, earning the starting role as a freshman during the pandemic-impacted 2020 season.
Against an SEC-only schedule that year, Bigsby ran for 834 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games, averaging 6.04 yards per carry and winning SEC Freshman of the Year.
He eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark as a sophomore, becoming the first Auburn player to hit that plateau since Kerryon Johnson in 2017, even as his explosiveness took a step back.
Bigsby’s sophomore campaign ended with 1,099 yards and 10 touchdowns but his yard-per-carry average dropped to 4.93.
