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The Miami Dolphins have selected Louisville wide receiver DeVante Parker with the 14th pick in the first round.
In Parker, Miami gets a true No. 1 receiver, someone it has lacked since it traded Brandon Marshall back in March 2012.
The native of Louisville, Kentucky, is 6’3″, 209 pounds and ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at the combine, with a vertical leap of 36.5″. With his size, speed and vertical ability, Parker can catch just about anything thrown his way, which made him a focal part of the Cardinals offense in his four collegiate seasons.
His all-time numbers at Louisville saw him come down with 156 receptions for 2,775 yards and 33 touchdowns; however, those numbers could have been higher had it not been for injuries that plagued him at times during his career.
In his senior year, Parker missed the first half of the season with a broken bone in his left foot. He managed to come back halfway through the season to an uncertain situation at quarterback—a situation that would have thrown off many receivers, but for Parker, it showed off how good he could be.
Sam Monson of College Football Focus broke down Parker’s senior season, noting his impressive production:
Parker missed time in 2014, playing just 359 snaps across six games, but his production in those games was mind-blowing. He earned a comparable receiving grade on the season to Jaelen Strong despite playing fewer than half the snaps. His grade was good enough to rank inside the Top 10 among all WR’s in the FBS (seventh among draft eligible WR’s) and he averaged almost 20 yards per reception (19.9).
Over a full season his production would have been off the charts and a real rival to Amari Cooper’s FBS-leading pace. Amari Cooper led draft eligible WR’s with 3.97 Yards Per Route Run looking at players with a large number of targets, but when you reduce the targets to fifty or more DeVante Parker jumps above him with a YPRR figure of 4.21
Parker’s senior season would end with 43 catches for 855 yards and five touchdowns. Yards and average-wise, it was comparable to his junior season, when he played the whole year with Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback.
As to what Parker brings to Miami’s offense, it’s simple to say he’s the new No. 1 receiver and leave it there. But it goes further than that.
Parker becomes the receiver who is most likely to be double-teamed on the Dolphins, especially if he can get off to a fast start. He towers over most cornerbacks in the league and was great throughout his college career at gaining separation.
With Parker drawing a double-team, it will allow Miami’s other receivers and tight ends (Jarvis Landry, Greg Jennings, Kenny Stills, Jordan Cameron, Dion Sims and Rishard Matthews) to feast on weaker coverage, forcing teams to decide between keeping a double on Parker or playing man-to-man on each receiver.
Making a defense think is a primary goal of any offense in terms of messing up the timing. With Parker, the Dolphins will be able to do that on every single play.
He is a superb route-runner who can not only go deep but also be trusted with intermediate and short routes. It will be difficult for cornerbacks to catch Parker, and even if passes are overthrown, he has shown throughout his college career that he has the ability to go up and grab anything thrown his way.
Statistics provided by Sports-Reference.com/cfb.
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