Dolphins’ Mark Walton goes from ‘down low’ and in ‘desperate times’ to first NFL start
It has been a long six months for Mark Walton.
Released by the Cincinnati Bengals in April after three arrests this year — legal issues that would ultimately be resolved.
Making his way to his hometown Miami Dolphins one month later on a tryout basis — and ultimately landing a coveted roster spot.
Facing an uphill battle to impress a new coaching staff, prove his worth and show he can contribute on game day.
It all culminated for Walton on Sunday against the Washington Redskins, when the 22-year-old Miami native, Booker T. Washington High alum and former Miami Hurricanes standout earned his first career NFL start.
“I just thank God for that situation,” Walton said. “I was down low. I’m back in the league and playing. Just happy. I can’t be more down on myself than that. I was very down on myself at that moment. Desperate times, but I’m up again.”
Walton proved his worth.
Walton, a fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, said he found out he was starting when he walked into the locker room pregame on Sunday.
His response on the field: He led Dolphins skill position players in their 17-16 loss with 83 yards from scrimmage on a career-high 11 touches. He had 32 rushing on six carries and added another 43 yards on five catches.
In his first 17 NFL games prior to Sunday — 14 with the Bengals, three with the Dolphins — Walton had a combined 137 yards from scrimmage on 22 touches.
“I try to go out there on the practice field and do my job each and every day,” Walton said. “I think that’s translating to the field and giving the coaches more energy to try to put me out there to see if what I do in practice can translate to the field. That’s what I’ve been trying to do on a week-to-week basis. It’s showing up.”
Look no further than the Dolphins’ first two scoring drives of the game to see Walton’s impact.
He had a 14-yard rush — the Dolphins’ longest run of the game — early on a late second-quarter drive that ultimately ended in a 39-yard field goal by Jason Sanders to cut Miami’s deficit to 7-3 at halftime.
And then in the fourth quarter, shortly after the Redskins missed a 55-yard field goal that swung momentum in Miami’s favor, Walton went 18 yards on a catch-and-run pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick. Kalen Ballage scored on a 1-yard rush five plays later. It was the Dolphins’ first second-half touchdown of the season.
The Dolphins would ultimately score another touchdown with six seconds left only to fail the ensuing two-point conversion attempt.
“We’re trying to win the game,” Walton said. “It just came up short, but I like the way everybody came out and competed and worked hard, and pushed through the final quarter and started fighting back. I think we’re just moving step by step and we just have to keep going.”
And if Walton keeps going like he did on Sunday, he very well could continue to contend for extended playing time as the season progresses. Dolphins coaches had said earlier this week that they were impressed with his work as of late.
On Sunday, they gave him an opportunity to produce. He delivered.
“I think Mark’s been playing well,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said. “I think all the backs are playing good football. We just wanted to see Mark, and I thought he went out there and made some plays in the run game and in the pass game. He missed a protection early to block that he normally makes. I would say in pass protection, he’s been one of the guys I feel most confident in from a pass protection standpoint; but all of those guys, we have confidence in them all. Ballage goes in on the goal line and Drake made a lot of plays. We got the ball to those guys a lot today; so starter, non-starter, they were all in there and were all somewhat productive.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2019 at 6:44 PM.
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