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Washington State’s Jahad Woods has always emulated speed, force on gridiron

PULLMAN — Those who’ve kept up with Washington State’s efforts on the recruiting trail through the Mike Leach era may recall the team’s pursuit of a small, swift linebacker from Helix High School in San Diego five years ago, while Alex Grinch and Roy Manning were working diligently to build a defense that placed a premium on speed rather than size.

To this day, if you punch “Jahad Woods” and “recruiting” into a search engine, you’ll stumble on a handful of bios for a 5-foot-10, 215-pound recruit who was rated three stars by sites such as 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN, and listed just two offers, from the smallest-market school in the Pac-12, Washington State, and a perennial bottom-dweller in the Mountain West, San Jose State.