Dolphins Finding Their Share Of Keepers

Part of the game plan for the Dolphins in 2019 obviously was the accumulation of assets for the future, whether it be draft picks or salary-cap space.

Make no mistake, though, the Dolphins also have been on the lookout for young players who could become major contributors for years to come.

A little more than halfway through the 2019 regular season, there clearly were some players who had emerged as building blocks for the Dolphins’ ongoing construction project.

Some of them are obvious and have been on the roster for a while.

We’re talking here about players such as Mike Gesicki, DeVante Parker and Jesse Davis, and Davon Godchaux, Jerome Baker, Raekwon McMillan, Bobby McCain and Xavier Howard on defense.

But there also have been several players who have seemingly come out of nowhere to make a name for themselves and seemingly put themselves in the middle of the team’s plans moving forward.

Here’s a look at some of those players:

RB MARK WALTON

On the lookout for talent everywhere, the Dolphins decided to give Walton a shot after he was released by the Cincinnati Bengals after just one year because of some off-the-field transgressions.

Walton wasn’t handed anything because the Dolphins merely gave him a tryout to their rookie minicamp at first. But Walton obviously handled things the right way because the Dolphins decided to sign him and he eventually made the 53-man roster and ultimately became the starter.

His season was interrupted by a four-game league suspension, but that came as a result of those off-the-field incidents and wasn’t necessarily unexpected.

With the Dolphins, Walton has done things right — both on and off the field.

He has drawn consistent praise from his coaches for both his work ethic and his toughness.

Whether he’ll remain the starting running back beyond this year, and even through this year once he returns from his suspension, is still to be determined, but he certainly has put himself in a position that he should be a factor on offense in 2020.