When it comes to Husky Football, the gold standard in the past few decades is Don James. He won the national title in 1991 — we all know that.

When James first came to Washington one of his first big recruits was Joe Steele; a local running back out of Bishop Blanchet  High School. But if you fast-forward, the recruit that actually set James’ own gold standard was actually a kid out of Eastern Washington named Steve Emtman.

Emtman was one of the most dominate defensive linemen to come out of college football.

He won the Outland Trophy and was even in the top four of Heisman voting — which is unheard of in college football. He wound up going number-one in the draft; first-round, first pick.

Emtman was the driving force of Washington’s dominate defense; a defense that set the tone for the undefeated season and the Huskies’ ’91 national title. This is the guy who is the standard-bearer for any kid who plays defense at Washington.

Fast forward to the last two decades.

There have been a lot of recruits; high four-star and five-star local guys who went to other schools. Guys like David DeCastro, Josh Garnett, Foster Sarell, etc.. And there have been plenty of other top in-state guys who went elsewhere because of some down years under prior coaches.

Then came Chris Petersen.

He got the Huskies back on the national map again; two Pac-12 championships, a trip to the college football playoff, continually developing guys to the NFL, and consistent winning seasons and bowl appearances.

Now, we have Jimmy Lake taking the reins Petersen handed him to continue in this era of Husky Football.

So let’s talk about five-star commit, Sav’ell Smalls. 

It’s our feeling that Smalls will be Jimmy Lake’s Steve Emtman of the 2020 recruiting class. 

It was a full effort on the part of the entire defensive staff in the recruitment and closing with Smalls, who had (at one time) actually eliminated Washington from his list. But it’s always a long process and these kids do reserve the right to change their minds — sometimes several times — throughout that process.

Smalls is a special player and athlete; what he can do on the field at 6-4, 249 lbs. (from day one) is elite pass-rushing skills and how physically he will grow into an absolute beast. 

Smalls has all the intangibles; he’s twitchy, and just flat out has freaky athleticism. 

Realdawg.com spoke with one scout who breaks down video of some of the top players in the country — he said that any one of those top 20 recruits could end up being the best college football in the country and “it’s all on them”, so looking at Smalls, you see God-given athleticism, strength, and the DNA for becoming an extraordinary college football player.

But for him to be the best in the country — it’s all on him.

What separates good players from great players is the mindset, and there’s no doubt that Smalls could be one of the most dominant players in the country at the next level as long as he eats, drinks, and sleeps football.

The weight room, nutrition, motivational mindset, all of it goes hand-in-hand. And Smalls is already going to be coached up by extremely good coaches.

Afterall, Pete Kwiatkowski recruited and developed Dallas DE DeMarcus Lawrence, and he’s done pretty well for himself in the NFL.

There’s no reason Smalls can’t be a first-rounder in the draft; right now he’s a big man — and he’s only going to get physically stronger as he grows and gets older.

Off the field? 

I interviewed Smalls quite a bit throughout the past two years and he’s a very intelligent, humble and genuine young man. I remember asking him once if he had considered the idea of being a hometown hero and starting right off the bat at Washington, he said “I believe wherever I go I can start right away”.

But he wasn’t cocky in how he said this, he was very matter-of-fact about. 

Joey Thomas, Smalls former coach at Garfield High School once told me, “If the Dawgs land him, everyone else will follow. He is the Alpha of the pack.”

Considering the state of Washington is absolutely dripping with top-tier talent in 2021, that’s a pretty startling statement — but it’s true.

Smalls can pave the way for local recruits who want to be a part of putting this program right over the top, and when Chris Petersen passed the baton to Jimmy Lake, stating that he had confidence in Lake to take UW football to the next level, he knew that Sav’ell Smalls was coming to Husky Stadium.

Don’t be surprised at what Smalls can bring to Washington. He is, without question, the Steve Emtmen of Jimmy Lake’s recruiting class.

That was the guy who brought the national title trophy to Don James and the Husky trophy case.