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Dwayne Washington is among the candidates to succeed Andre Roberts as Detroit's primary return man.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- Lions GM Bob Quinn chose Andre Roberts over Dwayne Washington, Jace Billingsley and TJ Jones as his return man last year, and the decision proved to be a good one.

Roberts averaged 12.3 yards per punt return, which was third in the league, and he was one of just three returners who housed two for touchdowns. He even made the most of his opportunities off the bench at receiver, including hauling in a tough TD grab in the three-point win against Washington and a 27-yard catch that set up Matt Prater's equalizer as time expired in Minnesota.

Detroit went on to win in overtime, and take over first place in the NFC North.

But Roberts left for Atlanta in free agency, which means the Lions are headed for another open competition at returner. And Quinn said he's ready to give Washington, Billingsley and Jones another crack at it.

"We have some guys on the team right now that we feel would be candidates to be the returner," Quinn said last week. "We've got Dwayne Washington coming back. We liked obviously what he did in the preseason last year as a kick returner, and think he has a good future doing that. We have Jace Billingsley, TJ Jones, a couple other players that haven't returned too much in their career, but we're working with them this spring to kind of develop that."

Washington, last year's seventh-round pick, wound up making the team thanks to an electric preseason --and he wasted no time making that impression, housing a kick return 96 yards for a touchdown in the exhibition opener against Pittsburgh.

He had some nice moments as a running back during the season as well, but faded down the stretch due to vision issues and could face renewed competition for his job after the draft. Detroit has scouted the position heavily, and is expected to add a back to complement Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick.

If that happens, Washington might have to beat out Zach Zenner to make the team, or land the return job.

As for Billingsley, he's trending the other way. The undrafted receiver didn't make the team out of camp, but impressed with his improvement on the practice field and earned a late-season call up. Now Roberts is out and Anquan Boldin is mulling his future, which leaves two receiver jobs up for grabs.

There's a whole lot of folks who expect Billingsley to vie seriously for one of those slots, too, and his versatility as a returner obviously helps.

"He's shifty," Lions receiver Golden Tate said. "He's very, very shifty. I think he has some running back in him. I think he might have played running back in college. Talented guy. I'm excited for him to get his opportunity in practice and go into the preseason. He made this team for a reason, and I hope to see him out there. I trust him. I think he's a heck of a player."

Billingsley could also face competition from Jones for that job. The sixth-round pick from 2014 spent last season on the practice squad, but does have return experience, averaging 8.4 yards on seven punts (with a long of 28) and 21.2 yards on five kicks (with a long of 34) in 2015.

Abdullah and Tate also have return experience, and have done some good work there too. But they have both been phased out of special teams in recent years and seem unlikely to be candidates for anything more than spot duty going forward. That's especially true for Abdullah, who played just two games last year because of injury.

Of course, the Lions could also turn to the draft to find a full-time returner if they don't like their in-house options. There are some good ones too, including Michigan safety Jabrill Peppers in the first round. USC corner Adoree' Jackson is an explosive returner who should be there on Day 2 -- he averaged 15.8 yards per punt return last season, the most of anybody in the country with at least 20 attempts -- and Iowa safety/corner Desmond King as well.

On Day 3, North Carolina's T.J. Logan would be an attractive option. Not only did he average 32.9 yards on 21 kick returns last season, with two going the distance, he was the fastest of all the running backs at the combine.