Now that the college football regular season has come to a close and teams around the nation prepare for conference championship games and eventually bowl games, draft-eligible players are going to start making decisions regarding their future. Although his team is preparing for the ACC Championship game against the Clemson Tigers on December 2, with hopes of being selected to the College Football Playoff, Miami running back Mark Walton has decided to forgo his senior year and turn pro.
According to Neil Stratton, Walton has signed with Zac Hiller of ZHS Sports and will declare for the 2018 NFL Draft. Hiller also represents former Florida State running back and 2017 second-round pick, Dalvin Cook.
The 5-foot-9, Miami-native suffered a season-ending ankle injury in October as the Hurricanes’ leading rusher on the year. At the time, Walton had rushed for 428 yards and 3 touchdowns. For his three-year career at The U, he had 404 rushing attempts for 1,995 yards (4.94 average) and 26 touchdowns. He also hauled in 56 passes for 624 yards and two touchdowns.
According to NFL Draft Scout, Walton is currently the 6th ranked draft-eligible running back and a projected third round pick. With nearly five months until the 2018 NFL Draft, Walton has time to rehab his ankle and improve his draft stock through team-workouts and his pro-day.
For many teams who did not qualify for a bowl this season, we can expect to see many announcements in the coming weeks regarding the future of draft-eligible players.