Happy Friday, folks! Jumpstart your weekend with another countdown to kickoff:
#71, Hakeim Smalls, FR, OL
Stats
Height: 6’3
Weight: 286
High school: Archbishop Murphy HS (Everett, WA)
How’d he get to The Blue™?
Andy Avalos hit the state of Washington hard in his tenure and Spencer Danielson has kept that up. Hakeim was a 3-star athlete who played both football and wrestling in Everett. He had to choose between the Broncos and a host of Mountain West schools, ultimately making the right choice for his family (and our families as well).
Nickname
“Biggie”
So-named because of his large size and Small last name.
Look-alike
The lookalike machine has settled on Lil Nas X, attendee of the University of West Georgia, who has also done some rapping and singing.
Career Highlights
For those who care to grind the tape:
2026 Prospectus
As I’ve said a couple times in the last few weeks, freshman o-line guys just don’t get a ton of playing time early on. No reason to expect anything in 2026 while he learns the ropes.
Is he on Twitter?
Little bit more of a tweeter than most! @Hakeim_Smalls. Eagles fan it would appear.
Completely made up fact
Hakeim isn’t worried about that Team USA game yesterday at all. The fact that our B-Team went band for band with Turkey is encouraging for him as we progress into the knockouts against Bosnia.
No small order.
“You’re killing me, Smalls!”