JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- There are three receivers who are locks to make the Jacksonville Jaguars roster: Allen Robinson, Marqise Lee and Allen Hurns.
Whichever players also make the team likely will have more to do with their coverage and tackling ability than what they do on offense. The receivers that can make the most impact on special teams will get those final two or three roster spots.
"Your fourth and fifth spot you're looking for guys that can play and are very important to special teams," coach Gus Bradley said. "I would say you'd like to get it when it's all said and done that the fourth and fifth spot can take care of six core special teams. When you're looking at those spots I think there's a pretty heavy emphasis on what they can do as far as special teams."
Kasey Closs, Arrelious Benn, Rashad Greene, Tandon Doss, Greg Jenkins, Bryan Walters, Damian Copeland, Tony Washington and Neal Sterling are the players competing for those final spots. It's too early to give any of them a clear edge, but it's logical to assume that Doss, Benn and Greene may have a slight advantage.
Doss is a proven punt returner, having led the NFL in punt return average (15.6 yards per return) in 2013 in Baltimore before missing last season with an ankle injury, while Benn has 13 kickoff returns in his career. Benn also is one of the Jaguars' bigger receivers at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds and has worked on kickoff coverage.
Greene, the Jaguars' fifth-round draft pick, averaged 12.3 yards on 38 punt returns at Florida State.
"He can tackle, and he can run down on kickoff, knows multiple positions and is intriguing," Bradley said of Benn, who has battled multiple injuries and hasn't played since the 2013 season. "We need to take a hard look at him.
"Tandon Doss is another bigger, stronger, physical guy. Let's see what he can do. How many core [special teams] can he be? Especially if Rashad Greene is a returner and that's it and that's what he does then the next guy, however it works out, would have to do four core [special teams]."
On the team's unofficial depth chart released Monday afternoon, Doss was listed as the No. 1 punt returner followed by Greene and cornerback Nick Marshall. Benn was listed as the top backup to Allen Robinson.