Dolphins’ DeVante Parker has career day in loss to Bills
By Brian Miller
Fans wondered why the Miami Dolphins were holding on to wide-receiver DeVante Parker after several years of bust worthy play. Not anymore.
Today, DeVante Parker turned in a career performance against the Buffalo Bills and it should be an indication of what is to come and not simply a matter of “any given Sunday”.
Parker caught seven passes for 135 yards today in the loss but it is not the first time that he has been targeted so much. He has targets of seven twice and 10 targets twice this season. Unfortunately, until today, his targets only equated to a game high six catches over eight weeks.
On the year up until today, Parker has 33 receptions on 62 targets for 469 yards. Today he adds another 135 yards to that total.
Parker isn’t lighting up the statistics but we are seeing a lot more production from him and he is creating space finally. This is something that we haven’t seen under Joe Philbin or Adam Gase. It is clear that the Dolphins coaching staff are starting to get more production out of him and helping him develop.
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The Brian Flores staff has taken a teaching method to coaching, something that has been missing for a long time in Miami. Parker is a good example of what better coaching can bring to the team.
There is still a lot of season left and we should expect to see more of Parker over the last six games and maybe, just maybe he might come close to 1,000 yards. With today’s game, Parker sits at 604. His two best seasons were 744 in his second year and 670 in year three. He hasn’t eclipsed 500 yards the last two seasons.
Reaching 1,000 yards would be a big step for Parker but so would getting in the end zone. Parker has four touchdowns so far in 2019 which sadly matches his best season total of his career. He has had four touchdowns twice in his career.