Eagles Very High On Tank Bigsby This Year After Massive Offseason Growth

PHILADELPHIA — For most of last season, Tank Bigsby served as the Eagles’ change-of-pace spark behind superstar Saquon Barkley.

Heading into the 2026 season, Philadelphia's coaching staff sees Bigsby as something more: a top-tier insurance policy for a 29-and-a-half-year-old workhorse at a position that could discard you at any moment.

That is how running backs coach Jemal Singleton framed Bigsby’s leap this offseason this week — not as a sudden discovery, but as the payoff of time that last year’s in-season trade never allowed.

“I think that’s the piece that often gets missed when you have guys that come in late,” Singleton said when Eagles On SI asked about the backup RB. “It’s, you haven’t been able to spend that much time with them, building that relationship.

“... And secondly, just in the meeting room listening and watching all the tape. And we know these guys bounce around from different teams. It’s a different language in every building, so we try to immerse them in the language.”

Bigsby arrived from Jacksonville after Week 1 of 2025. He still produced when he got the ball, showing impressive burst from the backfield and producing 344 yards and two touchdowns on just 58 carries in the regular season, including a 16-carry, 75-yard, one-touchdown performance in the Week 18 rest-the-starters game in advance of the playoffs.

What Bigsby did not get with the Eagles was a full install. The Auburn product was immersing himself in the Jacksonville offense.

This time Bigsby got a full offseason in Philadelphia with Singleton, the well-regarded assistant head coach/running backs.

“That’s the best way to learn it,” Singleton said. “But having him here for the offseason and having him the beginning of this system install was great and good for him, ’because now he’s got more background. So he’s had the offseason, he’s had training camp, as opposed to getting here in week two or three like he did last year.

“Now he’s had a chance to grow. He’s had a chance to work with me for a year. I’ve had a chance to work with him.”

That year together is the difference between a in-season Band-Aid and a fully trusted No. 2.

Singleton’s job with all his students, even Barkley, has always been to raise the floor and then keep lifting the ceiling. He is applying the same idea to Bigsby.

“Now let’s keep pushing those levels higher,” Singleton said.

Superstar Safety Net

Aug 28, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) on the sidelines before game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Lincoln Financial Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Others are noticing. Fantasy analyst Evan Silva of EstablishTheRun.com called Bigsby “the ultimate RB bench stash behind 29½-year-old Saquon Barkley.”

The compliment is a backhanded one only if you miss the point.

Barkley remains the offense’s engine, maybe more important than ever with the changeover to a Shanahan/McVaylike offense. However, the 2024 Offensive Player of the Year is entering his ninth NFL season with significant workloads.

The Eagles don’t need Bigsby to replace Barkley or even get increased touches. They need Bigsby to be ready if attrition strikes.

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