Mark Walton (American football)
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Miami, Florida, U.S.
 Walton in 2019 | |||||||||||
| No. 22, 32 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Running back | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | March 29, 1997 Miami, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Miami (FL) Booker T. Washington | ||||||||||
| College | Miami (FL) | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2018: 4th round, 112th overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Mark Walton (born March 29, 1997) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, and he was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL draft. He also played for the Miami Dolphins.
Walton attended Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Florida. During his career, he rushed for 2,769 yards and 45 touchdowns for the Tornadoes.[1] He committed to the University of Miami to play college football.[2][3] Walton attended Booker T. Washington High School (Miami) in Miami, Florida, where he was rated a consensus four-star recruit by ESPN, 6Rivals, Scout, and 247Sports.[4] As a senior, he rushed for 1,472 yards and 22 touchdowns, finishing his varsity career with 2,769 total rushing yards and 45 touchdowns.[4] In Booker T. Washington’s 54–35 state championship win, Walton recorded 184 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns, along with 89 receiving yards and 2 receiving touchdowns.[4] He received scholarship offers from several Power Five programs, including Auburn, Florida State, Tennessee, and South Carolina, before committing to the University of Miami.[4]
College career
Walton played in all 13 games as a true freshman at Miami in 2015, rushing for 450 yards on 129 carries with 9 touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2016, he started all 13 games and rushed for 1,117 yards on 209 carries with 14 touchdowns.[5][6][7] In 2017, as a junior, he rushed for 428 yards and three touchdowns on 56 carries in only four games due to ankle surgery which forced him to miss a majority of the season.[8] On December 5, 2017, Walton declared his intentions to enter the 2018 NFL draft.[9] On September 23, 2017, Walton delivered one of the most productive single-game rushing performances in Miami history, posting 204 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries in a win over Toledo Rockets football.[10] His 82-yard touchdown run in the first half was the seventh 200-yard rushing performance ever recorded by a Miami running back and tied for the sixth-highest single-game rushing total in program history.[10]
College statistics
| Season | Team | Conf | Class | Pos | GP | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||||||
| 2015 | Miami (FL) | ACC | FR | RB | 13 | 130 | 461 | 3.5 | 9 | 22 | 293 | 13.3 | 1 |
| 2016 | Miami (FL) | ACC | SO | RB | 13 | 209 | 1,117 | 5.3 | 14 | 27 | 240 | 8.9 | 1 |
| 2017 | Miami (FL) | ACC | JR | RB | 5 | 56 | 428 | 7.6 | 3 | 7 | 91 | 13.0 | 0 |
| Career | 31 | 395 | 2,006 | 5.1 | 26 | 56 | 624 | 11.1 | 2 | ||||
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 9+5⁄8 in (1.77 m) | 202 lb (92 kg) | 30 in (0.76 m) | 9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) | 4.60 s | 31.5 in (0.80 m) | 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) | 18 reps | |||||
| All values from NFL Combine[11] | ||||||||||||
Cincinnati Bengals
Walton was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round (112th overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft.[12] In the Bengals' Week 4 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, he had his first five professional carries for nine rushing yards to go along with two receptions for 28 receiving yards.[13] Overall, he finished his rookie season with 14 carries for 34 rushing yards to go along with five receptions for 41 receiving yards.[14]
On April 6, 2019, Walton was waived by the Bengals after being arrested for the third time in the offseason.[15]
Miami Dolphins
After a mini-camp tryout, Walton signed with the Miami Dolphins on May 12, 2019.[16] Walton made his first start against the Washington Redskins, rushing six times for 32 yards in a 16–17 Dolphins loss. He rushed for 66 yards on 14 carries the following week against the Buffalo Bills, also catching one reception for −8 yards.[17] On November 4, he was suspended four games by the NFL for violating the league's personal conduct and substance abuse policies for his offseason arrests.[18] The Dolphins waived him on November 19, 2019, after his fourth arrest of the year.[19] His suspension was lifted on December 3, 2019.[20] Walton was suspended an additional eight weeks by the NFL on November 13, 2020,[21] and reinstated on January 4, 2021.[22]