Why did he get drafted that high? Why did he get picked up immediately (after three arrests) and start on his second team?
You can’t answer these fundamental questions. You said he started over Brian Hill because of his “draft capital.” Why was Walton drafted high? It wasn’t his combine. Why did Walton start over Myles Gaskin? It wasn’t “draft capital” because he was a free agent with three arrests on his record.
The simplest answer is usually the correct answer. Mark Walton got paid by NFL teams to play football because he was good at football. He needed to go on a crime spree to leave the league. No amount of charts or essays change these obvious facts.
So you have no comment on Walton's on-field performance with the Bengals? You're gonna just continue to answer my questions with questions?
@DMoney - Do you think Walton was played poorly when he was with the Bengals?
You've made no comment. Can you point where where Mark Walton's on-field production led him to being a #2 RB in the NFL for 4 games?
You've made no comment. Will you/Can you answer any of my questions?
@DMoney - if you make no comment on my Opinions below, I'll assume you don't disagree with any of them.
1) Brian Hill was cut because Mark Walton had more draft capital. But Hill was better the better RB.
You disagreed on capital (my answer to that below) - but no comment on who was better
2) Walton got cut by the Bengals because and of his 3 arrests AND his poor on-field performance, If he had played well, the Bengals would've kept him.
You talk about the arrests - but make no comment on his on-field performance
3) Walton became a #2 RB solely because of injuries to Mixon, Bernard & Carson - not because of his on-field performance.
You made no comment
4) The Bengals upgraded at RB anyways by signing Samaje Perine off waivers after cutting Walton
You made no comment
As usual - you answer NONE of my questions, but I will answer ALL of yours. These are my opinions on your questions:
Why did Walton get drafted that high (4th Round)? Same reason Kalen Ballage & Ito Smith got drafted that high. It was poor evaluation. Just look at any of those 3 RB's career stats. Players get drafted much higher and bust even worse in every draft. Getting drafted high doesn't automatically mean you're a good NFL player. You have to prove it on the field, which Walton never did. Walton had draft capital over Brian Hill because Walton was a 4th draft pick & Hill was a 5th RD pick.
Why did he get picked up immediately and start on his 2nd team? I'm sure the Dolphins really liked Walton before the 2018 draft. So they saw an opportunity to get him for cheap with no long-term commitment, and jumped on it. Again, they also drafted Kalen Ballage in the 4th Round in 2018 - so IMO they had some bad evaluations. If you look at Ballage & Walton's college stats, they both had bad stats. They were both terrible against P5 teams. Ballage did score 8 TD's in 1 game vs Texas Tech though, so I guess that "Nose for the End Zone" thing might have clouded the Dolphins evals. In 2019 Walton started 4 games for the Dolphins for the same reason Ballge started 6 and Patrick Laird started 4 - there wasn't really any good options and SOMEBODY had to start. They traded away Kenyan Drake because they were tanking and those RB's are what they were left with. Tanking teams play bad players. Oh - Myles Gaskin and Samaje Perrine were both on that Dolphins team, and over time showed they were better RB's, but they never started - which further proves the Dolphins were bad evaluators of RB talent at that time.
So if Walton starting over Gaskin proves he was better - then does Patrick Laird starting over Myles Gaskin & Samaje Perrine prove he was than better them? Do you see how your logic you use completely falls apart?
In every walk of life - people fail upward all the time. It happens. Look at Walton on the Bengals.
Walton didn't have draft capital over Gaskin - Walton was a 4th RD and Gaskin was a 7th RD. A lot of times, you don't "lose" draft capital & reputation. How many times does a 1st RD bust sign with a new team and you hear "Well he's a former 1st RD pick, so you know he has talent?. Then they bust again with that new team. Just look at how many chances Miami guys like Phillip Dorsett & Erick Flowers were given despite their underwhelming on-field play? Draft capital affords you more opportunities.
Mark Walton got paid by NFL teams to play football because he was good at football - IMO, he got paid to play football because people THOUGHT he was good at football. You'll always point point out what you thought he COULD'VE been. It is a "fact" that people had the "opinion" that Walton would be a good NFL player. The "facts" you use are only about people's opinions. And I agree 100% a lot of people PROJECTED Walton to be good. The fact always remains, on the field, Walton never actually WAS good.
But when I ask you to point out where Walton actually DID play good - you can't. Walton's on-field play will always be the actual "facts".
How you feel, I feel, NFL GM's, how anyone feels about Walton will always just be "opinions".