This is an unedited version of my story for tomorrow's News Tribune:

Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Gil Haskell said he notices something very distinctive each time he sees young wide receiver Jordan Kent line up across the ball from cornerback Kelly Jennings during practices.
Almost subconsciously, Haskell said, Jennings, a staunch defender in his own right, tends to backpedal slightly as the count gets closer to the snap.
Jennings doesn’t do that with Nate Burleson or Bobby Engram or Courtney Taylor or any of the other receivers on the Seahawks’ roster.
Of course, none of those other receivers were all-American sprinters in college, as Kent was at Oregon, the proverbial mecca of college track. And so none of them quite inspires the type of fear in an NFL defensive back, especially a Seahawks’ defensive back, whose top priority is not to get beat deep.
“You just see (Jennings) creeping back, creeping back, creeping back,” Haskell says with a grin. “Speed kills.”

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Therein lies the conundrum with Kent, the son of Ducks basketball coach Ernie Kent who was the NCAA’s first three-sport athlete since 2001-02 (he also played for his father): He has the ability to stretch the field like no other player on the Seahawks’ roster; but he has no idea how to play the game.
If he had started playing football in the third grade like virtually every other player in Seattle’s locker room, he unquestionably would not have been stashed on the practice squad last season. Beyond that, he would not have lasted until the sixth round of the draft, given his size (6-4, 219) and physical attributes.
But he didn’t start playing until his junior year in college, starting up three weeks before the beginning of the regular season. Haskell jokes that Kent at times looked like a duck flapping about on the field last season.
“He has come a long way,” Haskell said. “A long, long way.”
Indeed, when special teams coach Bruce DeHaven tried out Kent as a return man last summer, there were times that Kent could not even catch the kickoff cleanly.
Now, he intersperses spectacular plays with solid plays, catching the ball more often than not, forcing the coaching staff to take notice of a player who more than anybody else can get behind the defense.
During Wednesday’s mini-camp practice, Kent sprinted down the left sideline, beat Jennings and hauled in a deep touchdown pass from Dalton Bell – proving Haskell’s point with emphasis. Jennings was not close to him.
“He is getting better each and every day,” Jennings said. “He is a very long, rangy guy so you have to respect the deep-ball threat that he is. With him at the line of scrimmage, you have to be real patient.
“He got one on me today. But I think it was something I did wrong at the line of scrimmage. But you do always have to keep that in the back of your mind that if you don’t get the right jam on him, he can beat you deep.”
Kent said his newfound proficiency is a byproduct of simply becoming more knowledgeable of Mike Holmgren’s offense, difficult to grasp for the most advanced receiver, much less one in just his fourth year of organized football.
“Last year when I got to the line of scrimmage, I didn’t know my play so much, meaning I was reactive rather than running my route,” Kent said. “By the time you run your route and make your play, the ball was on you.
“Now, since I know the play, I can concentrate on getting leverage here, cutting short the route there, and you can pay more attention to catching the ball.”
Where this places Kent among the hierarchy of young receivers remains to be seen, though Haskell admits that Kent is intriguing.
The Seahawks are likely to keep six receivers. With Deion Branch injured for at least the beginning of the season, it means they will have Bobby Engram, Nate Burleson and the four youngsters, with Branch on the physically unable to perform list.
Whereas last season they could stash Kent on the practice squad, they will have to play him during the preseason this year, giving him exposure to other teams.
Haskell said Kent is the perfect candidate for the practice squad for one more year, giving him yet another chance to develop. But if Branch comes back in the middle of the year and one of the receivers gets cut and has to clear waivers before he can be placed on the practice squad, there is a good chance that he would get picked up by another team.
Keep in mind, Jim Zorn is now in Washington and has had a good long look at Kent, and the Redskins are in need of talented receivers.
“He is the perfect guy for the developmental squad because he has tools that weren’t brought along because he started playing late and he is smart,” Haskell said. “He has a lot of pluses. We have just to be smart enough to make it work.”