Getty Mark Walton of the Miami Dolphins
In a surprising development last week, second-year man Mark Walton drew the start in the Miami Dolphins backfield. The running back would go on to total more touches in Week 6 than he had rushing attempts leading into the weekend.
Is Walton now the back to own in Miami? Or do the lingering whereabouts of Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage make the Dolphins running back a smorgasbord of fantasy irrelevance? Let’s discuss.
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Mark Walton’s Fantasy Outlook vs. Buffalo Bills
While the quarterback woes have stolen headlines in Miami, the Dolphins running back situation has been just as concerning from a statistical outlook. Incumbent starter Kenyan Drake, while still uber-talented, continues to be under-utilized despite a coaching change. His time in Miami seems to dwindle by the day, as more and more trade rumors circulate involving the former Alabama running back.
The running back who Miami wanted to push Drake for the lead-back duties, Kalen Ballage, has been an utter disappointment. Ballage has average a putrid 1.6 yards per carry this season. In fact, if you eliminate a 75-yard touchdown run from Ballage’s rookie stats, the running back has a career yards per carry average of just 2.66. In other words, he has not shown the ability or the talent to be a reliable ball-carrier in the NFL.
With lingering question marks surrounding Miami’s original one-two punch in the backfield, the team opted to showcase the next man in line, Mark Walton. Walton answered the bell in Week 6 to the tune of 75 total yards, on 11 total touches. That production is good enough for a 6.81 yards per touch average.
Dolphins coaches seemed to like what they saw from Walton, and from the sound of it, they are going to continue to give the former Miami Hurricane every chance to tighten his grip hold on the lead back duties in Miami.
He’s good out of the backfield catching the football. He’s a good runner inside and outside.” Head coach Brian Flores said about Walton. “I think he’s got a really good skill set, a three-down skill set. He made some plays last week. He really did. So, if he continues to do that, and he’s productive, we’ll leave him in there.”
Now despite all the glowing praise for Walton, there are negatives to examine. For starters, the matchup this week does not look very good on the surface. The Buffalo Bills surrender the seventh-fewest rushing yards per game this season. Secondly, Walton was outtouched by fellow running back Kenyan Drake a week ago 16-to-11.
However, Walton does appear to be the preferred running back in the ground game for Miami, and for that, he does present upside this week. While Buffalo has been stout in the run game, opposing running backs have managed to average an impressive 17.85 fantasy points in four of their five games against the Bills defense this season. Two running backs have also seen nine-plus targets against the team, which good news for Walton, who is coming off a game where he saw six-targets.
Should You Start or Sit Mark Walton in Week 7?
This is certainly a bit of a gamble, and you must temper your expectations. However, Walton does have starting potential in a week where players such as Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, Nick Chubb, and James Conner are either out with an injury or on a bye.
Roll the dice with Walton as a RB3 with upside on Sunday, and you may be pleasantly suprised.
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