ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL
ASU’s Xazavian Valladay makes his mark in week at East-West Shrine Bowl
East safety A.J. Finley of Ole Miss, right, tackles West running back Xazavian Valladay of Arizona State during the first half of the East-West Shrine Bowl NCAA college football game Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Xazavian Valladay’s week of practices leading into the East-West Shrine Bowl put him in a positive light for NFL scouts.
The strong prep carried over into the game Thursday night.
The Arizona State Sun Devil product led the West squad in a 12-3 win with 13 carries for 76 yards, a 5.8-yard-per-pop average.
Turned on the Shrine game and Xazavian Valladay starts off with a nice run between the tackles pic.twitter.com/WIWzhae38z
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) February 3, 2023
Valladay added a catch for four yards at Allegiant Stadium as well. The one-year Sun Devil who transferred to ASU from Wyoming flashed his hands in practices heading into the draft showcase event.
Valladay again. This is absurd. Caught everything in his general area this week. pic.twitter.com/JPiL8kgsia
— Ian Wharton (@NFLFilmStudy) February 3, 2023
Valladay impressed for an Arizona State team in a 3-9 season that underwent a head-coaching firing midseason.
He became the third Sun Devil to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in the Pac-10 and Pac-12 eras with 1,192 yards and 16 touchdowns.
His 5.7 yards per carry for his entire career made him a five-year college player who piled up 4,466 yards and 35 scores.
Valladay was sporadically used as a receiver throughout his career, but his workload hit a high in his fifth college season. For ASU, he made a career-best 37 catches in 22 for 289 yards and two touchdowns.
