DeVante Parker was selected 14th overall in the 2015 NFL draft and for the most part of his time in Miami he has been a bust. He has never exceeded 800 receiving yards in a season during his time in Miami He was a free agent this offseason but this new regime elected to bring him back at a low price to give this one more shot. On March 12, 2019, he was re-signed to a new 2-year contract worth up to $13 million that includes incentives.
I was shocked. I felt this regime had jumped the gun a bit because they don’t even have a franchise quarterback. Parker had one good game last season. It was the Houston Texans’s loss where he had 6 catches for 134 yards and he only had one touchdown the whole season.
Some would say lackluster quarterback play during Parker’s time in Miami has played a role in his underachieving. Many would disagree.
The Dolphins drafted Parker with the belief that he was going to be a #1 big-bodied receiver for them for years to come. So far, he hasn’t lived up to that billing. But, this past Sunday, he had 3 catches for 75 receiving yards in the loss to the Baltimore Ravens. It was the second-highest performance of Parker in a Dolphins season opener. (In 2017, he had 4 catches for 85 yards in a win over the Los Angeles Chargers.) Could he finally be turning the corner? Could Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea and Dolphins WR coach Karl Dorrell finally be the answer to this would-otherwise-be colossal bust?
Dolphins will be playing the Chargers this week but it looks like they’re listed as 16.5-point underdogs. Week 3 against the Cowboys was arguably the Dolphins best game of the season so far and yet, they still failed to cover the spread.
What Parker needs to do now is build is build some consistency. He will have a tough time this week because he is facing off against a New England Patriots secondary that consists of J.C Jackson, Devin McCourty and Stephon Gilmore. Jackson and Gilmore combined for a QBR allowed score of 44.8 %. That was third-best in the league last season.
Parker has got to play to his strengths and help Dolphins quarterbacks’ Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen with some big plays. He has had big plays in Week 1 and 3 this year as he caught a tough balls thrown to him, We need to see more of that in higher frequency.
To date, I think Parker is a 1st round bust. Can he turn it around this year? I would hope, when Flores said that the Miami Dolphins would be in shape, he was thinking of Parker. Conditioning is the road to staying healthy. Go get it Parker!
also dropped perfect throw over middle.