ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills rookie running back C.J. Spiller will enter the NFL as a starter.

That doesn't mean head coach Chan Gailey is ready to ride him hard.

"We have to be very smart about how we handle him, especially early in the year," Gailey said Wednesday at the team's facility. "It's incumbent upon us to make sure we don't throw him out there and work him [too much] early in the season."

Gailey added why being cautious with the dazzling playmaker shouldn't be a problem for Buffalo.

"If everything goes according to plan," Gailey said, "then that should never be an issue with the backs that we have."

The Bills have enviable backfield depth. In fact, player for player, they would stack up well against Sunday's opponent. The Bills will play the Miami Dolphins in Ralph Wilson Stadium.

The Bills also have Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch, a pair of 1,000-yard rushers who should play Sunday after missing significant time with injuries in the preseason. Jackson and Lynch both are listed second on the depth chart, separated by a slash.

"At tailback, we got three starters," Gailey said. "Some people have trouble finding one. We have three. They make us rank them [on a depth chart]. They make us put 1, 2, 3 down there, but it's kind of like asking a parent 'Now, rank your children. Which one's the favorite?'

"They're all going to play. They're all starters. They're all going to be valuable members of our football team as the year goes on as I foresee it."

Injuries helped Spiller distance himself in the backfield competition over the summer, but seeing him break off scintillating runs it's plausible he would have won the job had everyone been healthy.

"He's shown in his few reps here that he's a very good player and has a chance to be a really good player for a long time," Gailey said. "The reason he's starting is because he's gotten more reps than anyone else at tailback and preseason and he's done a good job. If he hadn't done a good job, then we might have to rethink it. But he's earned the spot."