Second Year Receiver Poised To Land Among League's Elite
DeVante Parker, who wears number eleven, plays for the Dolphins. Oh, boy, does he. Selected with the fourteenth overall pick of the 2015 draft, Parker is the first wideout Miami has drafted from the University of Louisville since Mark Clayton in 1983 (eighth round).
In hindsight, if that draft were held today, Parker would almost certainly be gone within the first five slots. He doesn't look as fast as he is, but he clocked a 4.45 forty at the combine, a blistering time for a 6'3", 210 pound man. He doesn't look as strong as he is, but he mustered 17 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press, one of the highest totals among receivers that year. Although he was billed as an intermediate, move-the-chains type player coming out of college, Parker, in an injury shortened rookie year, became the first Miami Dolphin since Hall of Famer Paul Warfield in 1974, to average over 20 yards per reception in a season.
Parker shredded the New England secondary on that overcast January afternoon in South Florida, to the tune of 106 yards and a touchdown, on just five receptions. Unsurprisingly, the Patriots chose a cornerback with their first selection in the 2016 draft. That's what great players do; they cause opposing teams, particularly within their own divisions, to try and counter their potential for producing game changing plays.
Having had a year to heal his surgically repaired foot and adjust to the pro game, and with a vaunted new head coach and what should be a much improved offensive line, DeVante Parker could well prove to be lethal to defenses on Miami's schedule this season.
