Eagles Make Shocking Deal For ‘Underrated, Underused’ AFC South RB
For much of the offseason we’ve wondered what Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was going to do with a war chest of draft picks accumulated over the last few years.
The answer has been — pretty much anything he wants.
Roseman’s wheeling and dealing stayed at an electric pace following Philadelphia’s Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys, with the Eagles sending a 2025 fifth round pick and 2025 sixth round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for third year running back Tank Bigsby.
“Trade: Jaguars are sending RB Tank Bigsby to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for 2026 fifth- and sixth-round picks, per sources,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on September 8.
Bigsby creates a crowded running backs room in Philadelphia with reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley, A.J. Dillon and Will Shipley already on the roster.
Bigsby was a grossly underrated and underused weapon last season in Jacksonville with 820 yards of total offense and 7 touchdowns in 16 games with just 1 start while playing behind Travis Etienne.
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‘Underrated’ RB Shined During SEC Days
Bigsby, 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2020 with 918 yards of total offense and 5 touchdowns for Auburn. He earned All-SEC honors each of the next 2 seasons as he racked up over 1,100 yards of offense each year and 10 touchdowns in both 2021 and 2022.
Bigsby finished his college career with an impressive 3,354 yards of total offense and 25 touchdowns in 3 seasons before leaving school early for the NFL. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds at the NFL scouting combine and the Jaguars selected him in the third round (No. 88 overall) in the 2023 NFL draft.
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NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein actually predicted Bigsby might shine in a “Dynamic Duo” sort of backfield in the NFL in his pre-draft evaluation.
“Fumbling has been a concern in the past, and he might not be much help on third downs or special teams,” Zierlein wrote in 2023. “His size, creativity and quickness could create an opportunity for teams to pair Bigsby with another back to form an effective tandem in a zone-scheme rushing attack.”
Eagles Backfield Could Be Moveable Object
Shipley was effective in a backup role to Barkley against the Cowboys with 3 carries for 26 yards but was forced to leave the game with a rib injury — he might not be right physically to play in Week 2 against the Chiefs.
Dillon, a free agent signee, wasn’t effective when he had the ball with 3 carries for 10 yards — he just might not be the right fight.
Enter Bigsby, who could thrive in his first chance playing for a competent NFL franchise. The Jaguars were 13-21 over his first 2 seasons, including a 4-13 record in 2024.
“The eagles running back room has to be the best in the league right?” X user Malibu wrote on his official account following the trade.
“To those who don’t know… Tank Bigsby is legit,” X user Rob Hodge wrote. “Only 24 years old… Rushed for 766 yards and 7 TD’s last season. Perfect RB2…”
“Tank Bigsby is a legit good running back” SB Nation’s Will Rucker wrote on his official account. “Howie is always going to strike when he feels he can get value. This is your RB2
Packers’ Colby Wooden Fires Back at Critics After Dominant Run Defense Performance
Micah Parsons, a contrarian opinion had taken hold, too–the Packers defense would get chewed up in the running game.Three days before the Packers were to play the Detroit Lions in their 2025 opener, defensive lineman Colby Wooden got a phone call. It was his father. While much attention had been foisted on the Packers in recent days after the stunning trade for pass-rusher
The Packers had to trade away stalwart defensive lineman Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons, and the feeling was, that would be costly in the team’s efforts to handle the run. Detroit, after all, rushed for 2,488 yards last season, sixth in the NFL. Without Clark, surely the Packers would be in trouble.
Wooden, who is helping replace Clark in the middle, took the call from his dad, who said, “Do me a favor, shut ‘em up.”
And he, along with the entire Packers defensive front, did just that, holding the Lions to 46 yards on 22 carries, their lowest rushing output since Week 6 in 2023. Wooden, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks held the line admirably in the middle all day for the Packers.
Colby Wooden: ‘I Took That Personal’
Wooden, for one, was insulted by the questions about the team’s inability to hold against the run.
“I for sure took that personal …” Wooden said. “So I just, did my job, went out there, stopped the run. I took it personal. Honestly, I felt like it was kinda disrespectful, like, ‘Oh, they gonna run the ball.’ So I made it my mission—we, excuse me—we made it our mission to shut them down.”
That’s not easy to do against the combo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles.
“We know what they want to do,” Wooden said. “Last year, they wanted to run. They call them Sonic and Knuckles, or whatever. They want to run them 30 times. So we know they want to run that ball. We’ve got to do our job to stop the run so they can get back and let (Parsons) go get them.”
Packers Filling Roles With Micah Parsons on Board
Wooden said the effect of having Parsons on the field was obvious, and it works both ways. When offenses focus on corralling Parsons, the other Packers must step up.
“Everybody’s got a job to do, everybody got a role,” Wooden said. “Everybody’s got to buy into their role. We know what attention and what he comes with. And we know we got to stop that run, go help him out, if he is getting is getting chipped, doubled or whatever, now it’s somebody else’s turn to win their one-on-one.”
Packers Have Commanders Next
And despite the obviously encouraging results, Wooden is not getting ahead of himself. The Commanders will be next on the docket, with fearsome young quarterback Jayden Daniels on hand.
“It’s just one week,” Wooden said. “It’s Week 1. It’s great to start off with a win, dominate. But we’ve got to keep it going. We got a good team coming here on Thursday, we know we got to be ready to stop that run and contain that quarterback. So we just gotta keep going, keep getting better, keep jelling.”
