No one likes it when someone says, “I told you so.” Instead, if I say, “I did mention,” would that be a little less annoying? After scoring 16.5 fantasy points (PPR) against a tough Buffalo Bills secondary two weeks ago, I mentioned that you needed to pick DeVante Parker up off the waiver wire. Some fantasy owners took heed of my advice as Parker’s ownership has risen from 13% to 36% in the last two weeks. But that means that he’s still available in 64% of Yahoo leagues.
Get free start/sit and waiver wire advice for your fantasy team 
Player Profile
Parker averaged 13.8 points in Week 8 and 9, which means he was the WR15 (among receivers who played both weeks) during those two weeks. That average wasn’t built off the back of one blow-up week and dud, either. Against the Steelers two weeks ago, Parker scored 11.9 fantasy points, and he scored 15.7 fantasy points against the Jets this past Sunday. Parker has spent most of his career being an inconsistent fantasy option, but that’s not so in 2019, and he seems to have turned a corner. In six of nine contests, he’s scored at least 10.5 fantasy points. He’s also run off five straight weeks where he’s scored between 11.8 and 17 fantasy points, and he has scored at least 15 points in three of those weeks. I know it seems crazy, but DeVante Parker is now a consistent fantasy option with a safe floor. Over the past two games, Parker leads Dolphins’ wide receivers in receiving yards, yards after the catch, and his RACR of 0.98 leads the wide receivers as well (per airyards.com). He ranks second in targets, touchdowns, and Air Yards. He also did this yesterday:
DeVante Parker had it with one hand all the way 😅 @DeVanteParker11 pic.twitter.com/9E4utppf5M
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) November 3, 2019
Not bad at all.
Outlook
Based on his own merit Parker was already a player that deserved to be added to your roster. But with Monday’s news that Preston Williams has been lost for the season, Parker becomes a must-add.
Dolphins HC Brian Flores tells reporters that Preston Williams suffered a season-ending injury vs. Jets.
Flores: "It's a big loss for us. Talked to him this morning. He's done an incredible job for us… I was devastated for the kid. I told him this is just a bump in the road."
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) November 4, 2019
Through the first nine weeks of the season, Parker and Preston Williams controlled 39% of Miami’s targets, which is impressive. More impressive is what they did since Ryan Fitzpatrick was reinserted as the starter three weeks ago. In those three games, they captured an absurd 46% of the targets, each securing a 23% share for themselves. As has been the case for most of the year, Williams led the team in Air Yards with Parker second during those three weeks.
No other wide receiver on the roster, excluding Parker, is within shouting distance of Williams statistically. He led the Dolphins in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. In each receiving category that Williams is leading the Dolphins, it’s Parker who ranks second. Any receiving category that Williams wasn’t leading the Dolphins in, Parker is the leader in that metric. For fantasy purposes, the most predictive categories for a receiver are raw targets, Target Share, Air Yards, aDOT, and red zone targets. Williams is the leader in each of those categories except for aDOT. Parker’s 14.8 aDOT bested Williams 13.2 aDOT, while Williams held the lead in Air Yards 792 to Parker’s 768. With similar aDOTs and Air Yards, it’s clear that Williams and Parker have been battling each other all season for similar targets. With Williams out of the picture, those specific targets will find their way to Parker. The other Dolphin receivers are either not good in those roles (Albert Wilson) or just not good at all (Jakeem Grant and Allen Hurns). Tied to a bad defense that is giving the most points per game in the league and a quarterback that never met a throw he didn’t think he could make, Parker has a WR3 weekly floor with the chance for WR1 weeks sprinkled in.
Wide receivers to consider dropping for Parker based on our Rest of Season rankings:
Get free start/sit and waiver wire advice for your fantasy team
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | TuneIn | RSS
Shane Manila is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Shane, check out his archive and follow him @DFF_Shane.
