We extend Friedman's theorem to show that, for any fixed $r>1$, a random $2r$--regular Schreier graph associated with the action of $r$ uniformly random permutations of $[n]$ on $k_{n}$--tuples of distinct elements in $[n]$ has a near--optimal spectral gap with high probability, provided $k_{n}\leq n^{\frac{1}{20}-ε}.$ Previously this was known only for $k$--tuples where $k$ is fixed. In fact, we prove the stronger result of strong convergence of random permutations in irreducible representations of quasi--exponential dimension. Along the way, we give a new bound for the expected stable irreducible character of a random permutation obtained via a word map, showing that $\mathbb{E}\left[χ^μ\left(w(σ_{1},\dots,σ_{r})\right)\right]=O\left(\frac{1}{\dimχ^μ}\right)=O\left(n^{-k}\right)$, where $k$ is the number of boxes outside the first row of the Young diagram $μ,$ solving one aspect of a conjecture of Hanany and Puder. We obtain this bound using an extension of Wise's $w$--cycle conjecture.