If and when you tune in to the NFL Combine this year, you'll probably be focusing on the better known names. Luck vs. RGIII, how fast is Dre Kirkpatrick, what is David DeCastro's bench press, how agile is Quinton Coples, etc. etc. But when some of the lesser known names take the stage, you'll be wondering who to root for.
Not anymore.
Every year, in addition to 30 usually high profile national draft-eligible players the Cowboys bring in for pre-draft visits, they also bring in some draft-eligible local prospects who are usually less well known.
These visits by local prospects usually happen in early to mid April and are known as "Dallas Days". Players qualify as a 'local prospect' if they attended one of the many high schools within the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area or played for SMU or TCU. These "Dallas Days" have delivered their share of Cowboys players in the past, with the likes of Patrick Crayton, Brandon Williams, Jacques Reeves, Stephen Hodge, Bryan McCann and Dez Bryant, as well as last year's rookies Phillip Tanner, Raymond Radway and Josh Thomas.
We don't yet know which local prospects the Cowboys will invite this year, but we do know which of the 328 players invited to the Combine would qualify as local prospects for the Cowboys.
After the break we list the 15 local players attending the Combine this year, many of whom you've probably never heard of.
Thanks to BTB member sgitr for doing the legwork to find these names, and without further ado, here are the local prospects:
| CBS rank | Projected Round | Player | POS | Combine # | College | High School | Hometown |
| 92 | 3 | Jamell Fleming | CB | DB14 | Oklahoma | Seguin | Arlington |
| 98 | 3 | Cyrus Gray | RB | RB10 | Texas A&M | DeSoto | DeSoto |
| 122 | 3-4 | Chris Givens | WR | WO16 | Wake Forest | Wylie | Wylie |
| 132 | 4 | Keenan Robinson | ILB | LB26 | Texas | Plano East | Plano |
| 161 | 4-5 | Jeff Fuller | WR | WO15 | Texas A&M | Boyd | McKinney |
| 167 | 5 | Emmanuell Acho | ILB | LB01 | Texas | St Mark's | Dallas |
| 198 | 5-6 | Jacquies Smith | OLB | DL48 | Missouri | South Oak Cliff | Dallas |
| 233 | 6-7 | Tank Carder | ILB | LB07 | TCU | Sweeny | Sweeny |
| 249 | 7 | D'Anton Lynn | CB | DB33 | Penn St. | Celina | Celina |
| 271 | 7-FA | Kelvin Beachum | OT | OL05 | SMU | Mexia | Mexia |
| 288 | 7-FA | James Hanna | TE | TE07 | Oklahoma | Flower Mound | Flower Mound |
| 314 | 7-FA | Ron Brooks | CB | DB08 | LSU | Macarthur | Irving |
| 320 | 7-FA | Patrick Witt | QB | QB19 | Yale | Wylie | Wylie |
| 334 | 7-FA | Jamie Blatnick | OLB | DL04 | Oklahoma St. | Celina | Celina |
| 601 | FA | Josh LeRibeus | OG | OL28 | SMU | Berkner | Richardson |
The players are arranged according to how they rank on the CBSSports big board. The 'Combine #' is the number they'll be wearing throughout the various Combine events.
While a few names on the list will be familiar to the some Cowboys fans, many of the names will have even hardcore draftniks scrambling for their draft manuals. But with this list in hand, you'll know who to root for once the lesser known names take the stage at the Combine - you never know, one of them might end up a Cowboy.
If nothing else, us this list to get a head start on your pet cats this year. But if you're planning on watching the Combine, think of this as your Cowboys Rooting Guide for the Combine, and bookmark it!!