Thinking Smalls, Husky Edge Rusher Has Big Streak Going

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.