Dolphins first round draft pick DeVante Parker introductory press conference

(Stephen Ross' Opening Statement) - "Welcome and thank you all for joining us. It is with real pleasure that we are able to introduce our first round draft choice. I hope you're excited. Hearing the fan reaction that I've heard so far that the choice of DeVante Parker was certainly one that was viewed very favorably. We're very excited because people who have talked to me over the last couple of months, that was my choice, I thought he would be great for the Miami Dolphins. It is a real pleasure to have you here today and for you to meet him. DeVante, this is your show. I know a lot of work was done in deciding who our first pick should be. Dennis (Hickey) and Mike (Tannenbaum) have spent untold hours really evaluating players and they're as excited as I am and they have a few words they'd like to say. Mike?"

(Mike Tannenbaum's Opening Statement) - "Thanks Steve. First off, I want to welcome DeVante and DeVante's family to the Miami Dolphins family. It's great to have everybody here today. I also want to publicly acknowledge the fact that it's been great working with Dennis (Hickey) and Joe (Philbin). It's been a really great process;  collaborative; we've had a lot of great discussions. We couldn't be more thrilled with the result to get DeVante Parker with the fourteenth pick. You run a lot of scenarios; you're not sure which way it's going to go. As I've said many times, the draft is just the next step and if we go back to February, and look at what we've been able to do with the addition of Kenny Stills and Greg Jennings, and seen the development of Jarvis Landry, we're really excited about what we've done at that position. With that said, we have a long way to go. We're still about an hour and fifty minutes from starting again tonight. We're looking forward to more additions here but we couldn't be more excited about DeVante as a player, as a person. I'll pass it over to Dennis (Hickey)."

(Dennis Hickey's Opening Statement) - "The draft process is a 12-month process with a lot of people in our scouting staff and our coaches do an outstanding job. All of the people that it takes to go through to work with through the process to put the board together. Fortunately, our board fell to our favor and we were able to get DeVante Parker, a talented, athletic, fast and productive receiver that scores touchdowns. That's what we wanted to add. We were very fortunate for him to be there. With that, I'll open it up to questions."

DeVante Parker

(On his excitement level since he was drafted) -- "My day today has been pretty busy. I was on the airplane real early, about 9 it was. I got an airplane and I arrived here about 2 or 3 this morning. I've been going around meeting everyone. That's really the whole process for today."

DeVante Parker

(On his first impressions of this place) -- "It is a very nice place to be. I'm glad that they picked me to be a part of this organization. I just love this place. I'm looking forward to my first season with the Miami Dolphins." 

Devante Parker

(On why he said the previous night that he has always wanted to live in Miami and where that want comes from) - "I'm not sure, you know, I think it's from when I trained here for the combine. I was here training for about a month or two. I just love the atmosphere here, and I love the city."

DeVante Parker

(On if he has decided what number he is going to wear) - "No, I haven't decided yet."

DeVante Parker

(On whether or not he was concerned that another team would draft him before the Dolphins as the draft unfolded) - "I was pretty sure the Vikings were going to snatch me up, but as soon as they passed me I had confidence that Miami was going to pick me up."

DeVante Parker

(On what kind of a player and person the Dolphins are get in picking him)- "A big, strong, physical receiver. A playmaker who can go up and get jump balls and just a good guy to be around. Very intelligent.

DeVante Parker

(On if he is feeling more excitement or pressure as he goes around the organization and he meets people) - "I say it's more excitement. They had a confidence in me to pick me up for their first round draft pick at 14. I just want to show them that I'm here to do the work and whatever it takes to have a good season with them.

DeVante Parker

(On meeting or texting with Ryan Tannehill) - "No I haven't met him. He texted me yesterday. A little text to say congrats and stuff like that. Something simple and short."

Mike Tannenbaum

(On if he is confident overhauling the wide receiver position will be an upgrade over 2014 ) -"Well obviously that has to play out. I mean it's safe to say that we are probably not going to be drafting a receiver in the second round. But we're really excited about where we are going with that. Obviously you know that has to come together with Ryan (Tannehill) and the receivers and obviously three new players. But what we feel good about is that coach obviously has a familiarity with Greg Jennings and did a lot of research on Kenny Stills. Starting with Dennis and his group they have done just an unbelievable amount of work on DeVante, and I think that he's a great example the tape sets the floor and the character sets the ceiling, and where this group could go is going to be really exciting to watch."

Mike Tannenbaum

(On what the Dolphins will be able to do at the receiving spot that they could not do last year)- "Well again, what we are trying to do is just add to the room in terms of speed, athleticism. Give another year of Ryan growing with this group of guys, and we're excited about where we can go with them."

Devante Parker

(On when the NFL got on his radar screen in terms of a career and if there was ever a time that he wondered whether or not he would make it to this level) - I would say, sophomore year I thought I had a pretty good season and that whehn I started to get noticed a lot I would say. I have Teddy Bridgewater with me though, they say he's the reason I had a pretty good season."

DeVante Parker

(On missing 7 games with a foot injury and how worried he was about his draft status, future, senior year and NFL future) - "I wasn't worried about it. I put a lot of hard work in when I was injured so I knew I would come back and produce real good so I could higher my draft spot."

Dennis Hickey:

(On if there was any one story on Parker's they found in research that best summed him up) - "As we talked to a lot of coaches and even Lamar Thomas, who we all know around here, we talked to coaches who were at Louisville and formerly at Louisville they just raved about DeVante's competitiveness, his love for the game, his passion, his dedication for it. They always talked about how he was a guy from the time he came on there, saying he was just a player, everyone recognized that initially and he performed consistently over his career. He's a guy who when I talk about touchdowns, every fifth catch was a touchdown. He had 33 touchdowns and over 150 catches. He was a playmaker from the time he stepped on campus there."

Dennis Hickey:

(On what put to rest any concerns about his durability) - "We rely on our medical staff as they do the orthopedic exams and all those things at the combine and at the re-checks. We rely on them for that and we were impressed that, one, that he came back for his senior year to play for his college team and also that he came back from an injury and played at a high level. If you watch those games, you know Florida State, Kentucky. If you watch Georgia, the bowl game, you see him after the injury, after the foot injury, you saw how he could perform, you saw the talent, you saw the resilience that DeVante has."

DeVante Parker:

(On what NFL receiver his style most resembles) -- "I would say it resembles a little bit of A.J. Green."

DeVante Parker:

(On what the training he did in South Florida prior to the draft did for him) - "I think it helped me a lot and helped me prepare for the combine. Everything we did in there, we were prepared for it, so we knew we were ahead. He (Pete Bommarito) prepared us for it from then until now."

DeVante Parker:

(On if he felt like he gained any speed in his training) - "I think I gained a little bit of speed, a little more endurance and things like that. I'd say it all worked out in the end."

DeVante Parker:

(On if he's familiar with the name of former Dolphins WR Mark Clayton) -"I've heard of him before, yes."