Drop DeVante Parker
By Matt Rogers
After all of the hype around Miami’s first round pick in 2015, DeVante Parker is appearing to be lazy, unhealthy, and another talented bust. Drop DeVante Parker from your fantasy football team!
As an avid college football fan, along with the NFL, I was very excited to see DeVante Parker drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the 2015 Draft. At 6’3”, Parker has the coveted height along with tremendous speed and athleticism that many football teams want in their receiving corp. Parker is the guy you can hit along the sidelines for a quick first down, or big gain, and is the guy you hit in the corner of the end zone, just out of the reach of that fantastic 5’11” cornerback’s hands.
In Parker’s Sophomore and Junior seasons for the Louisville Cardinals, he had a combined 95 receptions, 1,629 yards, and 22 TD’s over 25 games. So entering his second season, there was a lot of hype around DeVante, expectations being he’d exceed all previous season’s stats and be a first round pick. Unfortunately, Parker fractures his foot in his final year and was out most of the season. Still, Devante was able to squeeze in six games, and piled up an amazing 855 yards, tying his Junior year and averaging over 140 yards per game. He had five touchdowns as well. The hype machine was back, Parker was fantastic.
Enter the 2015 Draft, DeVante Parker is a hot name. DeVante was chosen 14th overall by the Miami Dolphins and many expect Parker to start and make an impact immediately. Then, Parker re-injures his fractured foot in OTA’s, well before the season starts. DeVante still gets 4 catches in the second and third game of the Dolphin’s season, but he doesn’t record another reception until Novmber 29th of last year, due to nagging injuries and no targets leading up to the 29th. Finally, in November and December, DeVante starts pulling the ball in, totaling 494 yards and 3 touchdowns to end the season. Very disappointing, but the Dolphins had coaching issues all year, so we’re not convinced it’s Parker…yet.
Enter Adam Gase as the new coach for the 2016 Dolphins’ season, and renewed hype that Parker would be a top target, and TD-getter, for Miami. Except, now, DeVante has nagging Hamstring injuries and sees little action in the preseason. As we enter week 1 of the new year, the hype is now moving toward Kenny Stills, away from Parker, and rumors around Miami about DeVante not doing much to take care of his body. The latest? He’s likely sitting out week 1. This all leads to many warning signs that DeVante Parker is on his way out of Miami soon and may result in a big bust!
Next: Who Benefit's from Parker's Fall?
Who Benefit’s from Parker’s Fall?
Kenny Stills, a 2013 5th round pick of the New Orleans Saints, showed some promise in his first two seasons of his career. Stills had 32 receptions, 641 yards, and five touchdowns his rookie season. Kenny followed that up with 63 receptions, 931 yards (two 100+ games), and three touchdowns. The lack of touchdowns was disappointing considering how often Drew Brees is slinging the football for the Saints, but the result still represents promise. But in March of 2015, the Saints began to make multiple roster moves, including sending Jimmy Graham to the Seattle Seahawks. One of those moves was trading Stills for a LB and a 3rd round pick to the Miami Dolphins.
Now in Miami, and with a promising rookie (DeVante Parker) continuing to have a nagging injury, Stills was playing in every game. However, by the end of 2016, Kenny only had 27 receptions for 440 yards and three touchdowns. But, as with Parker, there is speculation the fantasy results were due to the coaching turmoil in Miami, which appeared to affect everyone but Jarvis Landry, who we’ll discuss in a few seconds. Now, with Adam Gase in town, expectations are high for a better passing game. In camp this summer, beat writers were raving about Stills. He also looked good in preseason. An argument could be made that Stills is the second best wide receiver on the team, not Parker.
Oh, and for week 1, Stills is expected to start over Parker.
Next: Jarvis Landry
Jarvis Landry
As discussed in my Fantasy Football Rankings, Jarvis Landry is a target machine, getting 167 looks last year. It’s likely the word is out to all defensive backfields that Landry is the top option of Ryan Tannehill each time he drops back into the pocket. However, that was the case toward the end of last season, and he continued to rake in receptions, and yards. Landry had 5+ receptions in each of his last four games of 2015, along with and average of 84 yards/game.
With the hype surrounding DeVante Parker since early last season, it was expected at some point Landry’s production would fall significantly. However, it now appears that Parker not only won’t be competing for looks from Tannehill, he may not even see much action each game, especially in week 1. Landry’s only true threat for targets is more likely Kenny Stills. Parker’s decent from hype pandemonium will likely increase Landry’s value in your Fantasy Football Leagues.