DeVante Parker (WR, MIA) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

Miami Dolphins wide receiver (WR) DeVante Parker is a fantasy football waiver wire pickup to target as a free agent addition for Week 5 of the 2019 NFL season.

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ANALYSIS: Nobody wants to roster players from the Dolphins. Understandable to an extent, even in Devante Parker's case. Miami is on pace to complete a historically bad season. The Dolphins have scored two touchdowns in four games, accrued a league-worst 900 yards on offense, and logged nine giveaways (tied for second-worst) to go with seven fumbles (tied for fifth-worst). Of course, led by Ryan Fitzpatrick to start the season and Josh Rosen for the last two games, Miami has a mediocre 51.5 pass completion percentage, five percentage points worse than the 31st-ranked Steelers. If their overall game isn't working, let alone the passing side of it, Miami's wide receivers should hold no value, right?

To be fair, you're not entirely wrong. Miami's first receiver in fantasy points through Week 4 ranks 47th (Preston Williams) and Parker ranks 52nd. That is bad. Good for the Dolphins receiving corps, though, it looks like Rosen has revitalized the unit at least a bit. Focusing on Parker, he comes from his best performance of the year so far. In Week 4 against an average Chargers Defense, he finished the game with 17.0 fantasy points due to 70 yards and a touchdown on four receptions out of four targets. During the first two weeks of the season, with Fitzpatrick at the helm, Parker could only score 10.5 and ZERO (0-for-7 targets) fantasy points, but the two games playing along Rosen have yielded 8.6 and 17.0 points for him, a much better outcome.

It seems like DeVante Parker has always been a buyer of the wrong "more name than game" slogan since he entered the league as a 14th overall pick in 2015. Blame it on injuries or lack of true talent, Parker has never reached 800 yards nor 60 receptions in a season. This year he should break that yardage mark if he keeps healthy or Miami starts to play a little better as the season advances. Parker is putting up his best yards per target average since 2016 at 8.4, and is the clear go-to guy in the offense, having seen both the most snaps (89% of the plays) among his teammates. He has been targeted a tad bit less than Preston Williams (24 to 30), yet has the same 201 combined yards on 10 receptions (compared to William's 15). Both are the only ones with a touchdown in the team.

Given Preston Williams' rookie status, I trust DeVante Parker more going forward. We don't even know if he will end the season in Miami, as the team is in full-tanking mode and who knows if he could end being traded. No matter what ends happening, Parker is a solid option playing in Miami and he should average WR2 points weekly if his usage keeps up and his health doesn't go south. He has enough upside to hit low-end WR1 production here and there, and Miami will always be playing catch-up and throwing the ball, so the chances are he finish the season with a few such performances. For someone that can easily be described as the no. 1 option on offense for his team, finding him on waivers in nine out of ten leagues is a little ridiculous, no matter how bad Miami has looked. Pick him as soon as you can and turn him into your go-to Flex option from this point on.