Dolphins make admission on DeVante Parker
A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Friday:
• DeVante Parker ranks only 63rd in the NFL in receiving yards (406) and has only one touchdown, but the Dolphins are hopeful that Sunday’s five-catch, 103-yard game against the Chargers will lead to a breakthrough.
And for the first time, the Dolphins publicly acknowledged this week what a lot of fans suspect with Parker: He’s the key for this offense taking the next step.
“We think he can be one of the top guys in the league,” offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said Thursday. “We see it every day, a big catch here and a big catch there. A big thing is his health, and keeping him healthy, and keeping him up at full speed, and just the consistency. We need a consistent DeVante Parker, where it’s week-in, and week-out where people fear him. He took over the game in his way last week and gave us a huge lift.
“I think he is really key to us going from solid to good on offense. I think he’s the guy, his big plays. Those are the plays that take you to whatever that next level is, one notch better. And minus those big plays makes it harder.
“I think we all have felt all along that if we get the running game going and then now your play action (is more effective). Jarvis (Landry) is going to make his plays – he makes them every week – and then all of a sudden now, you’ve got the two guys outside that can really run and DeVante jumping up and making a big catch. Now you’ve really got something. You’ve just got to get all the parts functioning at the same time and working at the same time week, after week, after week. Then we’re going to get this franchise … this offense, where we want it to go.”
