When the Buffalo Bills pushed out their first unofficial depth chart of the season for last week's pre-season opener against Washington, the team did not provide a listing for the kick and punt returner positions. That has changed this week.
Chad Jackson is listed as the first-team kick returner. He returned one kick for 26 yards last week against Washington, and returned 14 kicks for New England and Denver between 2006 and 2008 (at a meager 19.1 yards per return). Donald Jones, C.J. Spiller and Joique Bell follow with the second, third and fourth teams, respectively.
Spiller, meanwhile, is listed as the first-team punt returner. While he was not especially prolific as a punt returner during his college career, Spiller is certainly capable in that area; he fielded the first punt against Washington, returning it for no gain. Spiller is backed up by Ellis Lankster, Naaman Roosevelt and Jones. Lankster muffed a punt in D.C., while Roosevelt had a nice 23-yard return in the fourth quarter.
The fact that Buffalo's two most established return men - Leodis McKelvin and Roscoe Parrish - don't show up on the depth chart indicates how experimental the position is at the moment. This is not what the depth chart will look like once the season starts; rather, it reflects merely which players the coaches want to see return some kicks in an effort to be as thorough as possible in their player evaluations.