New York Jets running back Xazavian Valladay soaked up plenty of reps in Saturday night's preseason win over the New York Giants in East Rutherford, rushing a team-high 14 times for 28 yards and collecting six of his eight targets for a team-leading 62 yards. Valladay hauled in plenty of checkdowns on Saturday against the Giants, totaling 90 yards on a substantial 20 touches. It was more or less window dressing for the 25-year-old Arizona State product, who is unlikely to be a part of New York's 53-man roster when the regular season begins in what has become a loaded Jets RB room.
The Houston Texans did not select a running back in the 2023 NFL Draft, but they did add one of the most talented undrafted free agent running backs in Arizona State's Xazavian Valladay. NFL.com's Chad Reuter assessed Valladay as the best undrafted running back available. The 23-year-old transferred to Arizona State in 2022 after four seasons at Wyoming, in which he topped 1,000 yards twice. In 2019, he led the Mountain West Conference in rushing yards, with 1,265, and in 2020 and 2021, he finished in the top five. As a fifth-year senior, he ranked second in the Pac-12 with 1,192 rushing yards. The Texans added former Bills running back Devin Singletary as their RB2, but they are weak at RB3 and RB4, so Valladay could have a chance to make the team and rise on the depth chart if he has a good training camp.
Xazavian Valladay
• RB
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Jets
