AUBURN | Just about everybody agrees Tank Bigsby is one of the nation’s best running backs.

The preseason first-team All-SEC selection returns for his junior season after combining for 1,933 yards and 15 touchdowns the last two years.

But his position coach, Cadillac Williams, is seeing a version of Bigsby during fall camp that the rest of the country hasn’t seen before. Williams called Bigsby his most improved back.

“Tank has taken a leap. Big leap,” said Williams.

And that big leap has come from an accumulation of a lot of small improvements.

“The kid has always had a great attitude. Always has worked hard. Always has showed up. Always a team guy,” said Williams. “Sometimes a guy that is really, really talented, they neglect the small things. You know, the details of the game. I just think the man is intentional about the small things, man. I think he just has a different, different vibe about him, that he is FBI — just his football intelligence.”

Part of that FBI is understanding different rushing concepts and plays and his part in making them successful. It’s not as simple as running through a particular gap.

"He was so raw, such a raw runner, and I just think his, again, intelligence of knowing the game, understanding the blocking schemes and what people have got to do. I think he just, he’s getting older and he’s starting to understand that, if I’m going to do this for a long time, and do this at a high level, it’s a lot of guys that’s talented. What’s going to separate me? I think just his understanding of that has gotten so much better,” Williams said.

And there’s another part of that big leap that Bigsby has been working on. It’s one that fans might notice right away later this fall.

“This offseason just putting in work, work, work, work,” Bigsby said. “Working on speed. Working on just being as explosive as I can be, because I feel like that was a part of it that I was missing last year. I wasn't really being as explosive as I can be. So put in the work, just working on that, quick-twitch stuff, being as explosive as I can be.”

Auburn’s preseason practice continues Thursday morning. The Tigers will hold their first major scrimmage Saturday evening at Jordan-Hare Stadium.