Miami Football: Hurricanes will miss Mark Walton
By Jacob Wilson
While many players are considered expendable, Miami football knows that it has lost a good one in running back Mark Walton.
After making a lot of noise in high school, Mark Walton entered the college football landscape as one of the top running backs in his recruiting class. A consensus four-star product out of Miami, Walton decided to utilize his talents locally. Despite the high demand, Walton committed to Miami over other Florida schools such as Florida, Florida State and USF.
Walton was able to contribute immediately as a true freshman, logging 754 yards and 10 touchdowns on 152 total touches in 2015. Walton also made his presence felt on special teams, contributing significantly in many aspects of the game.
The 2016 season brought even more success for Walton as the sophomore went on to record 1,117 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on 209 carries. Walton also displayed exceptional offensive versatility, bringing in 27 receptions for 240 yards and one score. Needless to say, Walton was well on his way to establishing himself as one of the nation’s best running backs.
However, 2017 would prove to be a down year, but by no fault of Walton. The junior would go on to log 428 rushing yards and three scores on 56 carries before suffering a season-ending ankle injury five games into the season. Walton would end the 2017 season with 519 yards from scrimmage while posting a 7.6 YPC average.
While the loss of Walton was crushing to a Miami team poised to make a championship run, sophomore running back Travis Homer stepped in and didn’t miss a beat. Homer went on to finish the 2017 season with 966 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 163 carries. Despite a fine season from Homer, Walton’s injury still took its toll on the Hurricanes.
As good as Homer is, Walton’s well-balanced and consistent approach was attractive enough to earn him a fourth round selection by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2018 NFL Draft. After employing the Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill platoon, it’s clear that the Bengals have chosen to value the versatility of a three-down back.
Next: Way-too-early 2019 NFL Mock Draft
Given the nature of college football, rosters are often quite fluid. So while the departure of a player of Walton’s caliber isn’t foreign by any means, it doesn’t make it hurt any less.