Thinking Smalls, Husky Edge Rusher Has Big Streak Going

The junior enters his fourth UW season looking for an added breakthrough.

Dan Raley | Feb 7, 2023

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Washington Huskies

Talk to Sav'ell Smalls, and he's not outwardly disappointed by the way his University of Washington football career has played out.

Hey, it's process, this veteran edge rusher will tell you.

While he doesn't have the most minutes or tackles, or even his first college sack, Smalls carries an individual distinction that sets himself apart from everyone else on the 116-man roster.

The 6-foot-3, 259-pound junior from Seattle is the only player who has appeared in every Husky football game over the past three seasons, 29 consecutive outings in all.

Smalls, the one-time 5-star recruit, has been good enough, healthy enough and lucky enough to fully engage in the program under a pair of coaches like no other player. He shows up.

The challenge for him now is to make bigger inroads in one of the deeper position areas on this UW football team — which includes All-Pac-12 selection Bralen Trice and 2020 All-Pac-12 pick Zion Tupuola-Fetui — if not maintain what he has, especially with a host of talented newcomers entering the edge-rushing competition in 2023.

In Trice's considerable shadow as Alamo Bowl defensive MVP, Smalls was noticeable for the pressure he put on Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers. He enjoyed one of his better outings by flushing the Longhorns leader out of the pocket multiple times.

He'll enter spring practice and his fourth UW season behind Trice and ZTF, backing them up along with fellow returnees in sophomore Maurice Heims, redshirt freshman Lance "Showtime" Holtzclaw and senior Sekai Asoau-Afoa, plus newcomers in sophomore transfer Zach Durfee and incoming freshmen Anthony James and Jacob Lane.

MR. BIG :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Sav'ell Smalls enjoyed a career outing against Kent State, coming up with 6 tackles, including this one while bringing down quarterback Collin Schlee.

In his first two UW seasons, Sav'ell Smalls wore jersey No. 17 before switching to zero when the NCAA relaxed its numbers rules.

Sav'ell Smalls looked extra intimidating in this Huskies' specialty uniform, especially under the lights in Husky Stadium during the height of the pandemic in 2020.

APPLE JUICE :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

At the 2021 Apple Cup, Sav'ell Smalls chases after Washington State quarterback Jayden de Laura at Husky Stadium.

Sav'ell Smalls is always good for a photo op, offering himself up as he comes out of the Husky Stadium tunnel and heads for spring practice in 2021.

At Memorial Stadium, where he played many of his high school games and had a UW practice, Sav'ell Smalls shows off his boxing stance.

Sav'ell Smalls gets ready to come flying off the edge against Portland State, with safety Asa Turner lined up behind him in the secondary.

Sav'ell Smalls entertains the media during spring football, standing in group interview following an April practice.

Sav'ell Smalls presents a fashionable football figure, wearing sunglasses at night, before doing battle for the Huskies.

Smalls has started one game as a Husky, that assignment coming in his fourth outing in 2020 as a freshman against Stanford. He opened opposite ZTF, who was on an incredible run of sacks back then — seven in his first three games — but that's it for a first-unit experience.

As he tries to advance up the depth chart, Smalls, who has 32 career tackles, hardly has been a passive player or overly content with his role while teammates such as Trice and ZTF have had their moments of individual greatness.

Maybe you didn't see an emotional Smalls on the sideline late in the Oregon game, shouting at Ducks fans and letting them know who was on top as the clock wound down on the Huskies' 37-34 victory in Eugene. All of this means something to him.

Don't discount this guy once another season begins. Hey, it's a process.

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Published Feb 7, 2023

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.