You've heard this before, but here it goes again _ the reviews on Miami Dolphins wide receiver DeVante Parker are absolutely glowing. To hear offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen tell it, Parker, the team's 2015 first-round pick, is poised to have a Pro Bowl-type season.
"I really think he'll have a great big year, a gigantic year for us," Christensen said Saturday.
Parker has battled injuries, primarily foot and hamstring ailments, since he entered the league. But he's also battled bad habits ranging from poor diet to lack of sleep to giving less than 100 percent effort during practice.
But Christensen said Parker, who had 56 receptions for 744 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games last season, has made a change in his approach.
"His routine is better," Christensen said, adding, "Sometimes those young guys, guys as they come into this thing, it takes them a while to fall into the routine of what it takes to put your body into position, in shape _ sleep, eating, practicing, all those things _ to be able to make it through a 16-game season, especially for a receiver where you are running so much."
If Parker lives up to Christensen's hype, he'll combine with Pro Bowl wide receiver Jarvis Landry (94 receptions, 1,136 yards, four touchdowns in 2016) and Kenny Stills (42 receptions, 726 yards, nine touchdowns) to give the Dolphins one of the NFL's best trios.
Landry and Stills have proven what they can do, now it's up to Parker, and Christensen likes what he's been seeing.
"He's been around a lot more than last year, he is practicing hard ... he's kind of zeroed in, so we are seeing what we wanted to see out of him," he said.
"We need him to be a big-play, No. 1 receiver, that's what he has the potential to be, that's what he has to be."
