Benardrick McKinney couldn't make it to a pre-draft visit to the Dallas Cowboys Monday due to an illness.
But according to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, McKinney will make time to visit the club at a later time. That might not be easy, given the Mississippi State linebacker's busy schedule.
McKinney recovered well enough to see the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday, and Rapoport reported he is also scheduled to see the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. Throw in trips to the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears, as reported by the Baltimore Sun, and the Tunica, Miss., native who went to his home-state school is seeing a whole lot of the country.
McKinney, an All-SEC middle linebacker who entered the draft as a junior, is ranked as the No. 4 inside linebacker in the draft by NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock. Ahead of him are TCU's Paul Dawson, whom the Vikings have also shown interest in, UCLA's Eric Kendricks and Clemson's Stephone Anthony.
As for the Cowboys, the re-signing of middle linebacker Rolando McClain isn't necessarily telling of the club's interest in adding another inside linebacker in the draft. Although McClain enjoyed a reborn career in 2014 as one of the Cowboys' top defenders, he has retired twice from the NFL before the age of 25, and suffered multiple concussions during Dallas' playoff run last season. As such, it wouldn't be surprising if the Cowboys drafted some competition at inside linebacker.
McKinney projects as a late-first or early-second round draft choice, and is ranked as the No. 44 overall prospect in the draft by NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah.
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