Cowboys Place LB Bruce Carter, K Kai Forbath On "Reserve/NFI"

In order to meet their 80-man roster limit today, the Cowboys have moved two rookies, linebacker Bruce Carter and kicker Kai Forbath to the "Reserve/Non-Football Injury" list, as per Todd Archer of ESPN Dallas.

With this move, both rookies are effectively ineligible to suit up in the first six weeks of the 2011 regular season.

The Cowboys selected Carter out of North Carolina with the 40th pick in the second round this year. Carter was a guy with a very high talent rating, but his draft prospects took a blow because of his knee injury that will now hold him out of the first six weeks of the season. Carter tore his ACL towards the end of the season and this dropped him from what was likely a first-round grade. Mike Mayock claimed he was a top-15 talent before the knee injury, and the numbers seem to bear this out: Carter amassed 215 tackles, including 24 for a loss and 8.5 quarterback sacks, as well as three interceptions in college. He was also a special teams demon who blocked more kicks than anybody at North Carolina.

Kicker Kai Forbath joined the Cowboys out of UCLA as an undrafted free agent this year, but never saw the field due to a nagging quad injury. Forbath won the Lou Groza Award in 2009, which is awarded annually to the nation’s top collegiate place-kicker. In the lead-up to the draft, Forbath was widely considered one of the top kickers available, with some experts predicting him to go as early as the fourth round.

The Cowboys must really like Forbath - who made 84.2% of his 101 field goal attempts as a Bruin - and are willing to take a look at him again in six weeks once he's fully recovered.