The Dolphins’ tanking attempts may have gotten a boost on Sunday with the loss of DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson to concussions. Parker has been, arguably, Miami’s best receiver this season, and, inarguably, he’s been the centerpiece of their offense since Preston Williams was injured and lost for the season several weeks ago. Wilson hasn’t been very good this year, but he did average six targets per week in the three games before last. If Parker and/or Wilson miss any time, that would leave Allen Hurns as the WR1 for the Dolphins. Even if both players can go, Hurns is under the radar waiver wire add you should think about picking up this week.
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Player Profile
There was a time when Allen Hurns looked like an ascending fantasy star. After a respectable rookie season that saw him average 9.7 points per game, he averaged 15.0 points per game during the 2015 season. That was good enough for a WR18 finish based on average scoring among wide receivers who played 10 or more games. The Tweet below highlights some of the positive aspects of Hurns’ game and how good he looked in his first two seasons with Jacksonville.
Poor quarterback play from Blake Bortles and Hurns’ inability to stay healthy conspired to extinguish those hopes, and he averaged just 9.2 and 9.9 fantasy points per game during the next two seasons. As a desperation flex or a bye week fill-in, that’s not bad production, but based on his 2015 production, it was disappointing.
After the 2017 season, he moved on to the Dallas Cowboys and proceeded to produce career lows in games started, targets, receptions, yards, and fantasy scoring. The Cowboys cut Hurns in July of this year, and he signed with the Dolphins for just one year and “up to” $3 million.
Outlook
Hurns’ signing seemed to be nothing more than a depth addition, and there was no reason to take note of it for fantasy purposes. Even after the Dolphins traded away Kenny Stills, it didn’t do much for Hurns’ fortunes. Until Preston Williams was lost for the season, he was rarely used in the passing attack, averaging 1.6 receptions a game through Week 9. Since then, though, he’s been much more involved in the offense.
| Targets | Receptions | Receiving Yards | |
| Weeks 1 – 9 | 2.29 | 1.6 | 19.7 |
| Weeks 10 – 14 | 5.8 | 3.6 | 45.6 |
In three of the past four weeks, he’s been targeted at least six times, and his two highest-scoring fantasy weeks have come in the previous three games. Against the Browns in Week 12, Hurns put up a season-high 14.2 fantasy points. Last week against the Jets, he notched a solid 11.8 fantasy points. The Dolphins’ next matchup is a fantasy football owner’s dream. They face the New York Giants, who allow 42.2 points per game to the wide receiver position (second-most in the league) in Week 15. This week’s game looks like an underrated shoot-out with two terrible pass defenses and the Dolphins’ recent insane pass-volume of 40 pass attempts per game over the last four weeks.
Hurns’ outlook will be affected by Parker’s availability next week. Parker has averaged 10.25 targets per game in the four full games he played without Preston Williams. The Dolphins are painfully thin at the wide receiver position. They have Hurns, Isaiah Ford (who had an excellent game on Sunday), and Mack Hollins. If Parker can’t go, Hurns may be able to put up a WR2 week against the Giants. If Parker can play, Hurns would be more of a flex option.
Wide Receivers to consider dropping for Hurns based on our Rest of Season rankings:
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Shane Manila is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Shane, check out his archive and follow him @DFF_Shane.