Miami Dolphins: Re-Examining the DeVante Parker Selection

The Miami Dolphins 2015 NFL Draft contained building blocks to last season’s success. But could they have done better than DeVante Parker?

The Miami Dolphins’ draft in 2015 had its ups and downs. The Dolphins selected some players that played pivotal roles in this season’s success. Chief among them being Jordan Phillips (second round), Jay Ajayi (fifth), and Tony Lippett (fifth). They also had their share of misfires, like Jamil Douglas (fourth) and Cedric Thompson (fifth).

Then there’s the first-round selection, wide receiver DeVante Parker. Parker hasn’t been a bad choice for Miami, proving to be a pretty good receiver when he’s on the field. However, the best ability any player can bring is availability. That’s been a real problem for Parker. In the two seasons since being drafted with the 14th-overall selection, Parker has started just 12 games. His young career has been hampered by nagging injuries, which has led some to question if the team could have done better with that pick.

Obviously hindsight is always 20/20. But what could the Miami Dolphins draft have turned out to be had they gone a different direction with the first-round pick? How would that have affected the rest of the 2015 draft? What effect would it have had on the 2016 NFL Draft? No one will ever truly know the answer to these questions. Here’s how I like to think things could—and maybe should—have played out.

When the Dolphins went on the clock with the 14th pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, there was still a ton of talent left on the board. Guys like Melvin Gordon, Arik Armstead, Bud Dupree, and Byron Jones, to name a few, were on the board. Wide receiver was an area of need for the Dolphins at the time, so the Parker selection made sense. However, there were other, more pressing, needs that could have been filled—needs that would have made a world of difference going forward.

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If the Dolphins weren’t selecting Parker with that pick, then who should the selection have been? For my money, the pick should have been Marcus Peters, a cornerback from Washington. Since coming into the league, Peters has dominated the competition. He’s already firmly planted himself as one of the top corners in the league, a position the Dolphins have struggled at and continue to.

Grabbing Peters with the pick would have immediately solidified the cornerback position and given the team a legitimate number one cornerback. In his two seasons in the league, Peters has already nabbed 14 interception, returning two for touchdowns, and has been named to the Pro Bowl in both seasons. Miami missed out on a world-class talent.

So if the Dolphins had selected Peters with their first-round selection, logic would dictate that they would not have drafted one of the corners they ended up taking. But who would the replacement be? Conventional wisdom might suggest that they wouldn’t have taken Tony Lippett later in that draft, but I would go a different route.

I like the Lippett pick for a number of reasons. Lippett came on strong towards the end of 2016. He showed the team and fans alike that he has some real value as a nickel corner. Let’s also not forget Lippett’s versatility, having played wide receiver for Michigan State. It’s entirely plausible that, with Parker now out of the picture, Lippett could have remained a wide receiver for the team. Either way, Lippett stays.