Clayton Echard's availability is probably the main reason he was selected as The Bachelor

The Ringer

"The Bachelor is always on nowadays," says Rodger Sherman. "The last season of The Bachelorette ended less than two weeks ago, and now we have a new season of The Bachelor, and a new season will begin filming in a few weeks. The new Bachelor is Clayton, a Midwestern guy from a small town who was briefly signed to an NFL roster as a tight end, although he didn’t play in any games—please do not confuse him with Colton, the Bachelor from three seasons ago, who was a Midwestern guy from a small town who was briefly signed to an NFL roster as a linebacker, although he didn’t play in any games. Bachelors and Bachelorettes used to be chosen because they had prominent and emotional story arcs on past seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette—but Clayton seems to have been selected in part because he was available to film after being dumped early during the just-ended-two-weeks-ago season of The Bachelorette. News broke that Clayton was the next Bachelor before his season even aired, and he then proceeded to play a confoundingly minuscule role in Michelle’s story. During the premiere, Clayton jokes that he received 'eight minutes' of screen time on her season, but feels he was selected because he 'believes in this process more than anyone else.' And who wouldn’t believe in the process after six whirlwind weeks not falling in love with somebody? It seems that instead of leaning on fans’ prior connections, The Bachelor would rather have a blank slate. This season is also supposed to represent a blank slate for the show itself." ALSO: Memes mock Echard's resemblance to host Jesse Palmer and Colton Underwood.