Devante Parker vs. Stephon Gilmore – The Rematch
The Miami Dolphins will be starting their season on 9/13 right where they left off, a road game in Foxborough Massachusetts against the New England Patriots. The matchup of that game was the Devante Parker vs. Stephon Gilmore matchup.
In that Week 17 game, Devante Parker had 8 catches on 11 targets for 137 yards, a 7 of those catches were when covered by Stephon Gilmore, a matchup, Parker capped off his 1000 yard catch season. Gilmore did have 1 pass breakup in that matchup.
In 2018, Stephon Gilmore posted on Instagram a photo of him intercepting a ball that was intended for Devante Parker. The caption said, “Ignore him and go get the ball.”
Earlier this summer there was an online debate between Devante Parker and Saint’s Michael Thomas on Instagram. The two exchanged back and forth in a debate that was taken a little personally on Thomas’ part, knowing that he has been performing well in the NFL for multiple seasons and with Parker having one great season. Thomas has nothing to prove, so why he went after Devante Parker is a head-scratcher.
That did not stop Devante Parker from talking his talk after his breakout 2019 season. Assuming Parker went down the Instagram archives, he saw the photo from Gilmore from 2018, so Parker wanted to fire back. His caption read, “Ignore him and attack the football.”
The back and forth between two great players in Gilmore and Parker makes it an even more exciting matchup for this Sunday. However, both players going into the week are not 100% healthy. Devante Parker was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday with a hamstring injury but was a full participant on Friday.
Stephon Gilmore was not on the injury report on Wednesday but was a surprise addition on Thursday with a hamstring injury as well. However, on Friday he was removed from the injury report completely.
In their week 17 matchup, they both had 16 games to play, they were in the groove on the NFL season. This time, they are coming in with limited offseason practices, and zero preseason games. I will not expect the same matchup this time around, especially with both being listed on the injury report this week. As far as who wins, these two probably will care more about one thing, whether their team comes out on top in week one, but this is a matchup that could make a difference in who comes out on top.
Prediction: Devante Parker, 6 catches for 70 yards on 10 targets, with 2 pass breakups by Gilmore. The other two incomplete passes will either be overthrown or underthrown by Ryan Fitzpatrick. Stephon Gilmore will likely be following him around again. I am not expecting the 2019 Defensive player of the year to give up 137 yards receiving a second time, but Parker will have his chances this Sunday. Devante Parker vs Stephon Gilmore, we will all be watching!