2016 Fantasy Football Profile: Miami Dolphins WR DeVante Parker

- Updated: Wednesday, June 8th

A top-15 pick and the third receiver off the board after Amari Cooper and Kevin White in the 2015 NFL Draft, Miami Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker closed his rookie season strong.

Like his final season at Louisville, his rookie season began with dealing with a foot injury so virtually all of Parker's rookie production occurred in the final six weeks of the season.

During that six-week span from Weeks 12 to 17, Parker hauled in 22 receptions for 445 yards (20.23 Y/R) and three touchdowns. Moreover, Parker was consistent during that stretch with eight or more fantasy points in five of six games and he was the WR18 over that span.

That per-game production down the stretch would extrapolate to a statistical line of 1,187 yards and eight touchdowns over a 16-game season.

Parker's end-of-season production also corresponded with the absence of Rishard Matthews, who signed a free-agent deal with the Tennessee Titans this offseason. Matthews missed the final five games of the season, but he was on pace for 69/1,059/6 through his first 10 games.

There are plenty of positive reports about Parker early this offseason.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill recently said the following of Parker (via the Sun Sentinel):

"I think you saw, the last six to eight games of the year, his confidence start to build. He made more and more plays it seemed like as the weeks went on. He got more comfortable and more confident and was attacking the football.

"He's starting at that point now. We can build from where he is at now, and the sky is the limit for him."

As one of Miami's top-three receivers along with Jarvis Landry and Kenny Stills, Parker is the biggest (6-3, 218) of the group. And while he's not necessarily a burner, he has good speed (4.45 forty). Given his size, Parker should be the most productive Dolphins receiver in the red zone.

"He can make big plays down the field [and] inside," Tannehill said. "He's a big-bodied guy. He's a guy that we're going to want to use in the red zone and we're going to want to use him on third downs and to stretch the field, as well."

Adam Gase takes over as head coach for a team that threw the ball on 64.79 percent of its offensive plays last season. Only three teams -- Detroit (65.63%), Jacksonville (65.02) and New England (65.00) -- threw it more often in 2015 than Miami.

Here are the rankings for Gase-coordinated offenses over the past three seasons:

Year	Team	Pass-play % (Rank)	Pass Att. (Rank)	Pass Yards (Rank)
2015	Chicago Bears	54.3% (25th-most)	523 (25th-most)	3,663 (23rd-most)
2014	Denver Broncos	59.21% (17th)	607 (9th)	4,661 (4th)
2013	Denver Broncos	59.68% (13th)	675 (2nd)	5,444 (1st)

Many of the top Bears pass-catchers missed multiple games last season -- Alshon Jeffery (seven missed games), Kevin White (16 missed games), Marquess Wilson (five missed games), Eddie Royal (seven missed games) and Martellus Bennett (five missed games). That said, Jay Cutler had one of the best seasons -- career-high 92.3 passer rating -- in his only season with Gase as a coach.

While the Dolphins may not throw the ball on as high of a percentage of their plays as they did last season, I'd expect their passing-game production to be more efficient in 2016. Earlier this offseason, Tannehill also had the opportunity to get tutored by Peyton Manning when it comes to understanding the new offense.

Compared to his current WR32 average draft position (ADP), Parker should easily return value assuming good health. Primed for a breakout in his sophomore campaign, Parker is currently ranked as my WR22 (I'm higher on him than most analysts) but has top-12 upside if things go really well.

Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule (SOS)

Parker and the Dolphins receivers have the eighth-most favorable fantasy football strength of schedule (10th-best in PPR) in 2016. His fantasy playoff SOS (Weeks 14 to 16) is middle of the road (No. 16 in standard, No. 15 in PPR). In the fantasy playoffs, Parker faces the Cardinals, Jets and Bills, respectively.

2016 Fantasy Football Projection: 67 Receptions, 1,059 Yards, 8.4 TDs

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Good luck in your 2016 fantasy football leagues!