DeVante Parker Belongs in Race with Amari Cooper, Kevin White as Draft's Top WR

Alabama's Amari Cooper isn't a lock to be the No. 1 wide receiver selected in April's draft as he was once believed to be. 

Despite growing momentum in favor of West Virginia's Kevin White over Cooper, Louisville's DeVante Parker also remains in the conversation as the top talent at the position. 

The trend toward White and even Parker is a new development as game film is further scrutinized. 

Cooper was considered an elite talent and the runaway top wide receiver in the class throughout the season. He blew away the competition and Alabama's record books with an NCAA-leading 124 receptions for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was eventually awarded the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver. 

What makes Cooper a special talent is his nuanced route running and the ability to separate from coverage. But he's not an overwhelming physical talent. And that's where the tide is starting to turn against him as the clear-cut top prospect at his position. 

At a listed 6'1" and 210 pounds, the Alabama product doesn't claim the same type of physical tools that top-10 wide receivers generally do.

The prospects selected in that range usually present tremendous size or speed and sometimes both. 

Year	Player	Team	Height	Weight	40 time
2005	Braylon Edwards	Browns	6'3"	210 lbs	4.47
2005	Troy Williamson	Vikings	6'1"	203 lbs	4.32
2005	Mike Williams	Lions	6'5"	229 lbs	4.56
2007	Calvin Johnson	Lions	6'5"	239 lbs	4.35
2007	Ted Ginn Jr.	Dolphins	5'11"	178 lbs	4.38
2009	Darrius Heyward-Bey	Raiders	6'2"	210 lbs	4.30
2009	Michael Crabtree	49ers	6'1"	215 lbs	DNR
2011	A.J. Green	Bengals	6'4"	211 lbs	4.50
2011	Julio Jones	Falcons	6'3"	220 lbs	4.39
2012	Justin Blackmon	Jaguars	6'1"	207 lbs	4.46
2013	Tavon Austin	Rams	5'8"	174 lbs	4.34
2014	Sammy Watkins	Bills	6'1"	211 lbs	4.43
2014	Mike Evans	Buccaneers	6'5"	231 lbs	4.53

The trend to go away from Cooper and toward White began in early January. Part of the reason for the change was due to White's stature. 

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah tweeted that White had overtaken Cooper during his evaluation period and provided a comparison that certainly turned some heads: 

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller is the latest to make the change. In Miller's post-Super Bowl mock draft, White was selected fourth overall by the the Oakland Raiders. 

The growing interest in White shouldn't come as a surprise. For most of the season, White competed with Cooper to become the nation's leader in receiving yardage. Both fell short in the end, and the West Virginia target managed 63 yards or less in four of his final six contests. 

White's talent is undeniable, though. 

After transferring from Lackawanna College to West Virginia, the Scranton, Pennsylvania, native didn't light it up during his junior campaign. White only registered 35 receptions for 507 yards in 2013. 

That all changed as a senior. White snagged an impressive 109 catches for 1,447 yards and 10 touchdowns. 

White is the physical presence that Cooper isn't. 

At 6'3" and 210 pounds, the Mountaineers' top target high-points the football as well as anyone in the class. He uses his body to shield defenders from the ball. And he regularly creates separation at the top of his route even without impressive top-end speed.

If White is this year's Julio Jones, Parker is A.J. Green. 

The Louisville wide receiver was thought of as a first-round talent prior to the start of the season, but he missed the team's first seven games due to a broken foot he suffered during an Aug. 22 practice. There was even some concern at the time that he might miss the entire season. 

Once Parker got back on the field, though, no one could stop the Cardinals' top pass-catcher. 

In Louisville's final six contests, Parker averaged 142.5 yards per game. Only Colorado State's Rashard Higgins, who led the nation in total receiving yardage, averaged more. By comparison, Parker's average was 19.1 yards per game higher than Cooper's and 31.2 more than White's. 

At 6'3" and 211 pounds, Parker is the same size as White, and he shows similar ability to Cooper in getting open to produce at a high level. Size, of course, is always preferable as teams search for a true No. 1 target.

Parker's greatest asset is his catch radius. The Louisville product has an uncanny ability to pluck the ball out of the air from outside the framework of his body. 

Like White, Parker is dangerous when the ball is up the air, and he can rise above defenders to snag it, as seen in a tweet from Kyle Posey: 

What makes Green and Parker truly special, though, are their ability to play like much smaller receivers. Parker is built very similarly to Green, and both glide around the field with ease.

Usually, lankier receivers have trouble beating the jam at the line of scrimmage due to a lack of burst off the snap, or they have a tendency to round off routes because they lack short-area quickness and flexibility. 

Neither is the case with Parker. 

Fusue Vue provided the below example of the wide receiver's ability to easily beat press coverage: 

Parker can also create after the catch. In today's game, it's essential for wide receivers to take short receptions and turn them into big gains. 

Rotoworld's Josh Norris provided an example of Parker making multiple defenders miss against the Kentucky Wildcats after he made a catch near the line of scrimmage: 

While the conversation continues to swirl around whether Cooper or White is the best wide receiver in April's NFL draft, Parker is actually the most complete package. 

As long as his previously injured foot checks out OK at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, Parker will no longer take a back seat to any other wide receiver. He's just as good as Cooper and White, and he may even be slightly better. 

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL draft for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.