Oakland Raiders Select Max Valles In NFL Draft

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Max Valles was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. ~ Mike Ingalls

Exactly 100 picks after his pass-rushing counterpart received his call, Virginia’s Max Valles saw his name selected in the NFL Draft on Saturday. Eli Harold went to the San Francisco 49ers with the 79th pick in the third round Friday and Valles followed as the 179th pick in the sixth round when the Oakland Raiders made the move.

Valles had minimal discussions with the Raiders during the lead-up to the draft.

“The only real contact was that I had a formal with them at the combine and got the call right before my name got announced on TV,” Valles said “That was it.”

Valles, who surprised most observers when he declared for the draft, was a third-team All-ACC selection in 2014. He was the youngest player in the NFL Draft at 20 years of age. At Virginia, Valles tallied 78 tackles, 13 sacks, 12 pass break-ups, 4 forced fumbles, and 1 interception in his career.

Last season as a sophomore, Valles finished the regular season second in the ACC in sacks with 9. Valles returned his only career interception for a touchdown against Pittsburgh last season. He teamed with Harold on opposite sides of the defense to create all kinds of pressure problems for opponents. In Oakland, he could see time as a defensive end or linebacker after he played a hybrid role at UVa.

Valles knows that he’ll likely have to carve out a special teams role and continue to work on his pass-rushing skills to make an impact in the NFL.

“Just working on a backup pass rush move, if one doesn’t work,” Valles said. “I’ve been working on that a lot this offseason. Overall just becoming a more physical player. Coming from college to the NFL, it’s going to be a much more physical game so I just have to step it up a notch.”

Surprisingly, Virginia safety Anthony Harris did not get selected during the NFL Draft. Harris, however, did sign on as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings.

Harris did not have the opportunity to work out for teams in the months before the draft and that likely hurt his stock. He had shoulder surgery on Dec. 30 after playing most of last season injured – he hurt the shoulder against BYU on Sept. 20. Despite playing injured, Harris still piled up 108 tackles with 10 pass break-ups and 2 interceptions. That was an increase in tackles from 80 as a junior, but a decrease in interceptions after he led the nation with 8 in 2013. Harris earned All-America status after his junior season and was a third-team All-ACC pick after his senior season.

Harris finished his UVa career tied for No. 10 in program history with 11 career interceptions. He posted 289 career tackles as well.

Other Cavaliers who hope to pick up free agent contracts include Henry Coley, Kevin Parks, and Darius Jennings among others.