Chester Rogers is proving to be Titans’ best option at punt returner

The Titans’ search for a new punt returner is ongoing, but one candidate may be starting to separate himself from the pack. A trio of wide receivers in the form of Chester Rogers, Mason Kinsey and Cameron Batson have been receiving looks at punt returner throughout camp. Rogers and Batson were the two players that returned punts against the Falcons on Friday night. We imagine Kinsey will get a chance to field one or two against the Buccaneers in the team’s second preseason game this weekend.

Rogers clearly stood out on Friday night, returning two punts for a total of 71 yards. The standout play was a 57-yard return that head coach Mike Vrabel was obviously very pleased with.

“He got into the return quickly and got vertical. The play was blocked well, and the gunners were controlled well,” said Vrabel after the game.

Batson looked comfortable in the role as well. He turned three punt returns into a modest 34 yards, with a long of 14. He made good decisions, but it was Rogers who provided the big-time play the team wanted to see from the position. This isn’t the first time Rogers has returned punts during his NFL career. He’s actually returned a total of 60 punts, all of which came during a four year period (2016-19) with the Colts. Friday’s 57-yard return was actually the longest of Rogers’ career. His previous long went for 51 yards during the 2018 season. Rogers owns a career average of a modest 9.2 yards per return. His career-high is 9.3 yards, which also came during the 2018 campaign. It was the eleventh best average in the league that season.

Rogers isn’t just the most experienced punt returner on the team, but so far, he looks like the one most likely to take one or two of them to the house. We won’t call this battle over yet, but it’s starting to look like Rogers should be the Titans’ punt returner.