Provided this boarding pass situation is sorted out in time, DallasCowboys.com will be taking off for Indianapolis and the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday afternoon.
Each year, the general consensus is that the most important aspect of the trip to Indy is not the workouts themselves, but the chance for teams to sit down face to face with prospects for 15 minutes to get a feel for how they think, how they interact with coaches and, if possible, what sort of character they possess.
For the Cowboys, who clearly need help in the secondary, the most important meetings of all might be held with two cornerbacks, Dre Kirkpatrick of Alabama and Janoris Jenkins of North Alabama.
Both enter the NFL with the fog of drug-related incidents in their too-recent past, creating question marks about the wisdom of selecting them in the first round.
According to Jason Smith of NFL.com, no one has more at stake at the Combine than Jenkins, who was dismissed from Florida after being popped with marijuana twice in a three-month span last year. In 2009 he was arrested (and tasered) for fighting outside a Gainesville nightclub.
Kirkpatrick's past is less checkered, but the timing of a January arrest for marijuana possession is most questionable considering the importance of these few months leading up to the draft. Charges have since been dropped, but teams like the Cowboys will still have to ask the question.
During what little time they have with prospects in Indianapolis and in the two months left before the draft, the Cowboys have to make sure they know what they're getting in players they're drafting.
No pick represents more risk than the first-rounder, No. 14 overall.
