Cincinnati Bengals: 3 Players to watch in Preseason Week 3
By Kenn Korb
*RB Mark Walton
On first glance, it would seem Walton should be a pretty safe bet to make the roster. Outside of some indecisiveness, his draft profile shows a player who can be a solid contributor in the backfield. ESPN’s Todd McShay called him the best value of pick of the 2018 draft. He’s small, but works well in space and can run through contact. Bleacher Report compared him to fellow Bengal Giovani Bernard, and there surely was some thought with this selection that he could be a long-term replacement for Bernard.
On top of it all, he was a fourth-round draft pick — high enough that teams in general almost never cut them within the first offseason, and on a team which is especially unlikely to cut their draft selections.
The way this preseason has gone so far however, there should be legitimate worry about Walton lasting through roster cuts. Through two preseason games, he is one of two Bengals with double-digit carries (10); unfortunately for him, he’s done just about nothing with them.
Against Chicago, he led the team with seven rushes, but only picked up 13 yards (with a long carry of four yards). Versus Dallas, he was somehow much worse: three carries for -9 yards (with a long of a one-yard loss). It may not be all on him (the blocking has been inconsistent, to be sure), but picking up a net total of four yards on 10 carries is pretty bad.
What also doesn’t help matters: the other runners he’s competing with have had a better go of things. Joe Mixon and Bernard are the clear 1-2 punch at the top, but below them much is left to be decided — and just about everyone besides Walton has been making a positive case for themselves.
Brian Hill has had a knack for big plays as a runner (an 18-yard rush vs Chicago) and receiver (44-yard catch-and-run vs. Dallas), and scored a touchdown. Tra Carson has put up 24 yards on six carries in each of Cincinnati’s two preseason games so far, had a 12-yard rush against Chicago, and he plowed in for a short touchdown against Dallas. Jarveon Williams had a big 29-yard reception versus the Bears.
At this point, any one of them seems like a better option than Walton. The talent is lining up for Cincinnati to possibly keep four running backs to enter the year, and Walton’s high draft status helps his cause, but he’s shown so little so far that he can’t just hope he’s saved by those factors; if I were picking the roster myself right now, both Hill and Carson are making it over him easily. Even just a marginal performance against Buffalo would be an improvement, but Walton may need to have a breakout of sorts to truly secure himself a spot in the final 53.