They say that recruiting rankings can be political, subjective, and based on everything from how many offers one has to what region they come from.
So if Garfield High School (Seattle) outside linebacker, Sav’ell Smalls was from anywhere than Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington, would he have hit the top spot in the country in the most recent 247 Top 100 rankings?
“It just gives me motivation”, Smalls told Realdawg.com this week, “I don’t pay attention to it but I know that I have to keep working hard.”
On the local level, Smalls is a player who is shattering the glass ceiling of what Washington has been known for in recruiting.
We’ve seen quarterbacks and other offensive players come in at five stars — but Smalls is an outside linebacker and…let’s face it: If he was at De La Salle or Mater Dei or any school outside this region, he would be ranked #1 in the country — and rightfully so.
Right now, Smalls is at 16 offers, but by this time next year he’ll have doubled that — and probably more.
Yes, he’s a 5-star. Yes, he’s the top player in the state fo 2020. Yes, he’s tops in the country at his position. But there is an argument to be made for him being the best of the best overall.
Talking to a couple of real-life scouts (not network guys), you hear descriptives such as “elite”, “athletic”, “super physical”, “dominant”, “Twitchy”, “Sunday player in the making”, and more where that came from.
At 6-4, 238, Smalls is still in the infancy of his own recruiting saga. Already, however, there’s enough reason to believe he could climb up those two spots to #1 if he puts on solid combine performances and continues to develop his already-solid skillset.
Last season for the Bulldogs, Smalls recorded 90 tackles and 9 sacks at the defensive end position. And the scouting reports we’ve heard are spot on.
He’s being recruited by UW as an outside backer, but in that system he would also do the same job as a defensive end without dropping back. In other words — a pass-rusher.
Smalls is a speciman who is still developing. His football IQ is excellent, he loves to watch film, and says that he feels his biggest strength is his motor.
“I know how bad I want it”, he said, “I feel like my size and precision and attention to detail set me apart.”
Smalls wants to major in Business, and despite what it seems, he said UW is right in the mix, “I definitely love UW — that’s one of my favorite schools. I love Coach Pete and all the coaches. My dad has always been a U-dub fan. It’s a misperception out there, I really do love UW.”
The draw of staying close to home is strong too — especially since this is a new era of Husky football under Petersen, “That would be great to be able to stay home and play for national titles and also get my business degree”, Smalls said.
Smalls also plans to be on the UW campus to watch spring ball over the next few weeks, but before that he has a 7 on 7 tourney in California where he’ll also take unofficials to USC and UCLA, and may also go check out Oregon State and Oregon — he may even check out Georgia.
One good thing going into next season is that Smalls won’t have his hand in a cast anymore, “I played all of last year with a broken thumb”, he said, “I had to wear that cast all season.”
I’m not alone in my opinion that, based on his body of work and what he offers as an athlete and defensive player, Sav’ell Smalls has done all he can do up until now to deserve that #1 ranking in the country, overall.
But my firm belief is this: The reason he came in third is about geography — and that’s the bottom line.
