Like the hydraulic scaffolding from which David filmed, Quintel Kent has been on the rise. Bill Greene, 247’s Ohio uber-scout, wrote about Kent earlier this month and spoke highly of his skill set; it’s not hard to see why Greene re-ranked him in September. It is a bit surprising, though, as  Kent’s Hello post quotes a July scouting report from Greene in which he says he will remain open-minded but thinks Kent is properly rated. 247’s rating then: #1105 overall, #130 WR. Their rating now: #657 overall, #89 WR. He wasn’t even ranked in the composite when he committed in August, where he is now a three-star and #1257 overall. What a difference an offseason makes.

David thought we should see what we could see over the course of a full game and added Kent to the FBO schedule. He also added Woodstock BBQ in Lakewood to the list of this year’s restaurants, later texting me that it was really good but that the sauce wasn’t as good as City BBQ. Ohioans, to the comments! 

As the saying goes, “the best-laid plans of FBO and David often go awry.” Though there was no lightning delay, Kent’s St. Edward squad ran St. Joseph’s ragged by halftime, which led to a Kentless second half. He did his part in the first half to contribute to his second-half rest, which is my way of subtly influencing you to hit the jump.

[Hit THE JUMP for every-snap film and scouting]

Every-Snap Film

[#1]

Scouting

The first thing from the film that stands out is Kent's speed off the line, and it only takes 15 seconds to see that he doesn't just run by guys but sets them up to cede positioning to him. Kent shows a secondary burst at the 30-yard line, and he upshifts as he sees the defender flip his hips. It allows him to get a step on the corner before turning to look for the ball, which is late. There’s still some good to come from the play, though, as it’s an example of his ability to adjust to the ball in flight that has been particularly noticeable in other highlights (1:03). He maintains focus through contact and engages in some handfighting, which he ends up winning by way of a defensive holding call.

Kent’s most obvious skill that needs to be developed is blocking. At :32 he knows the play is a run but clearly doesn’t expect the outcome, giving the defensive back a cursory tap as he runs in to support and subsequently recovers the running back’s fumble; at 1:20 he gets a hand on the corner and gets in the way for a moment, allowing the back to get the sideline but eventually letting the corner get away; he misses his block on the kick return at 3:42. Then at 2:39 Kent finds the defender furthest ahead, gets to him, and basically walls him off long enough to give the ballcarrier a small lane up the sideline, so he makes the right decisions when engaged. It's not a red flag--this is not usually a strength of high school receivers--but there are enough clips on this reel to show that he'll need to improve his consistency, trusting that strength will be addressed by the conditioning program.

Kent’s most obvious and well developed skill is his footwork. He can break down at the top of his route almost instantaneously, going from full sprint to stopped on a dime; 2:51 is a pretty good example. At 1:41 he takes a quick jab step inside to try to get the corner to bite on an inside move and you can see from his step around to the outside that he would have beaten his defender had the ball been thrown to the back corner. At 2:22 Kent runs a three-yard curl, turns it upfield, and shakes a defender with a quick inside step. No. 3 is comin’ in hot on that play and Kent outruns him with ease. Kent shows some route chops at 3:19, driving upfield to sell the go before cutting hard into the comeback.

Summary

It’s clear that Kent is quick off the line and into breaks, has good footwork, and possesses an awareness of when to downshift and upshift which should lead to him developing into a good route-runner and open-field threat, though there wasn’t a ton to go on this particular evening. Mostly Go routes, a comeback, the shimmy-shake TD off a short curl, and positioning himself for some screens; a 38-7 halftime lead meant St. Edward didn’t need to call on Kent’s deep-play ability in the second half. He will need to increase his strength and take on blocks more willingly. Hard to judge his hands in this game, as he caught everything thrown his way when open but was interfered with on the only contested ball.