Marijuana Charge Against Dre Kirkpatrick Dropped

Dre Kirkpatrick, former Alabama cornerback and projected first rounder in this April’s NFL Draft, will not be prosecuted on a marijuana charge stemming from an incident last month, a spokesman for the state attorney’s office in Bradenton, Florida told ESPN’s Joe Schad this week.

According to ESPN’s write-up on Monday, no reason was given.

Kirkpatrick was a passenger in a car that was pulled over in Bradenton on January 17th, and, after a dog detected drugs in the car, officers found marijuana near Kirkpatrick’s feet. The car was driven by another former Alabama player, Christopher Rogers.

Rogers reportedly told police that he had purchased the marijuana, while Kirkpatrick said that he was in the car when the exchange occurred, though he didn’t know at the time what was being purchased.

What effect the news of the dropped charge will have on Kirkpatrick’s draft prospects, we don’t yet know--but it certainly won’t hurt at this point. And we’d imagine that teams with a need at cornerback--like, say, the Dallas Cowboys--are keeping a sharp eye on the 22-year-old as we move closer to April.

- Article originally from NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.