I've been playing lower ranks with friends, and I can honestly say there's a skill disparity within those ranks (iron <-> gold). Yes there's smurfs, but I can usually spot them based on their skill sets so factoring them out. The people boosted is a bit tougher.

But regardless I'm talking about players who deserve to be in their rank, there is still definitely a disparity between these players.

I think the fix is to model it more like League in that if someone is say S1, everyone understands they are better than a S5. In Valorant no one really differentiates S3 vs S1 (you move in and out of ranks so fast). Also I think it helps players see their progress better vs promotion/demotions over and over.