Inside The Huskies

Alabama DL Prospect Goes on Trial Run with Huskies

Defensive lineman Emanuel Ruffin test the waters with late-night musing.

Dan Raley

Emanuel Ruffin is a class of 2026 player from Alabama who has a UW offer.
Emanuel Ruffin is a class of 2026 player from Alabama who has a UW offer. / Ruffin

This past Thursday night, some 2,600 miles from Seattle, an Alabama football prospect tried something on for size.

Emanuel Ruffin from the town of Bessemer and the Class of 2026, in a near midnight musing, posted a scholarship commitment to the University of Washington apparently just to see how it would look. He did the same with Central Florida.

Not heavily recruited, or at least not yet, the 6-foot-5, 290-pound defensive lineman from Bessemer City High School also has Louisville and Arkansas State among his college football options but not much more than that.

Ruffin has held a UW offer since May 15, which insiders point out often is viewed as more of an olive branch, as procedure, in order for a school to hold recruiting discussions rather than hand over a nonretractable proposal.

While he is not rated and doesn't have a 247Sports recruiting profile yet, this Southern prospect doesn;t lack at being a self-promoter -- on his social-media bio, he labels himself as a future 5-star player.

Ruffin emerges from a season in which he compiled 52 tackles, which included 5 tackles for loss and a lone sack, for a 6-5 Tigers team.

There's no reason to dismiss him and his chances for ever playing for the UW; it's just early in the process for him. He certainly looks on the explosive side in the workout video below.

In Ruffin's favor is the Huskies' increased interest in Alabama football recruits. They recently drew a commitment from 6-foot-5, 240-pound edge rusher Caleb Smith from Parker High School in Montgomery and was one of four finalists for 6-foot-4, 230-pound linebacker C.J. May from Highland Home, the latter choosing Louisville over Auburn, Syracuse and the UW.

Bessemer is a town of 26,000 in the Birmingham suburbs, 45 miles from Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama. If this kid continues to develop and make himself into a much higher-profile player, he won't be a secret to Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley

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.

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