It’s still unclear when Dolphins’ first-round rookie DeVante Parker will return to the field following his June foot surgery, but the good news for Miami is that it should have an upgraded receiving corps this season even before Parker finally makes his return.
The drafting of Jarvis Landry a year ago and the offseason acquisitions of Greg Jennings and Kenny Stills make Parker something of a bonus, despite the expectation that he’ll become the Dolphins’ No. 1 wide receiver at some point during the 2015 season.
Jennings arrives after two seasons in Minnesota that many would label a disappointment, but he actually graded very similarly in our system to how he did his final year in Green Bay – the difference in his production had much more to do with the guys throwing to him on those two teams. Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in the game, while Vikings quarterbacks had a QB rating of 101.6 when throwing to him last year, which was 29th in the league. He can be a solid performer for Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill this season.
Kenny Stills arrives as a direct replacement as a deep threat for Mike Wallace, and he should be a good fit. Only 12 wide receivers racked up more yards on passes 20 yards or more downfield than he did with the Saints last season. Stills should help open things up for the Dolphins offense, especially with arguably their best receiver in the slot.
That would be Landry. Only four wide receivers had more receiving yards from the slot than his 623, and he added four touchdowns while recording the ninth-best drop rate among NFL WRs as a rookie.
Getting Parker into the fold as soon as possible will be huge for the Dolphins, but they have the receivers to get by until he's ready – and one of the more quietly effective receiving corps in the league.
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