Dre Kirkpatrick

D'Andre Lawan "Dre" Kirkpatrick (born October 26, 1989) is a former American football cornerback.

He completed his senior football season in the fall of 2008.

Kirkpatrick participated in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and the 2008 Alabama Mississippi All-Star Football Classic, where he was recorded at 6 ft 2 in and 180 lbs.

Kirkpatrick played his final three high school seasons at Gadsden City (35 games) and finished his career with 193 tackles, 17 interceptions, three returned for a touchdown, 36 pass breakups, two sacks, one punt return touchdown, one kick return touchdown, and one receiving touchdown.

After completion of his senior season he was awarded as the ASWA 6A back of the year as well as a first-team all-state defensive back for the second consecutive year.

Entering February 2009, Kirkpatrick was one of the most highly rated and sought after high school football recruits in the country, having been awarded a five-star rating by national recruiting outlets Rivals.com and Scout.com.

On February 7, 2009, Kirkpatrick ended months of recruiting, committing to the Alabama Crimson Tide on National Signing Day, as he announced his decision live on ESPNU.

Coming out of Alabama, Kirkpatrick was projected to be a first round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.

He received an invitation to the NFL combine and opted to skip the bench press, short shuttle, and three-cone drill due to a shoulder injury and after injuring his hamstring during the combine.

He played college football at Alabama and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

He has also played for the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.

Kirkpatrick attended Gadsden City High School, where he played for the Gadsden City Titans high school football team.

He was a teammate of fellow Crimson Tide players Jerrell Harris and Kendall Kelly.

On March 7, 2012, Kirkpatrick participated at Alabama's pro day and performed the three-cone and positional drills for the team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams.

He was ranked the third best cornerback prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com and NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Kirkpatrick in the first round (17th overall, traded from Oakland in exchange for Carson Palmer) of the 2012 NFL Draft.

He was the third cornerback drafted in the 2012 NFL Draft, behind Morris Claiborne (6th overall, Cowboys) and Stephon Gilmore (10th overall, Bills).

On May 18, 2012, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Kirkpatrick to a four-year $8.62 million contract that includes $7.84 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $4.71 million.

Kirkpatrick joined a veteran core of cornerbacks that included six highly touted first round picks.

While preparing for training camp, Kirkpatrick fractured his knee and was expected to miss the next six weeks and be sidelined during training camp.

His knee recovered in August before the Cincinnati Bengals played their last preseason game.

Kirkpatrick returned to practice, but developed tendinitis in his knee that later delayed his debut.

Head coach Marvin Lewis named Kirkpatrick the sixth cornerback on the Bengals' depth chart to begin the season, behind Nate Clements, Leon Hall, Terence Newman, Jason Allen, and Adam Jones.

He was inactive for the first seven games and made his professional regular season debut on November 4, 2012, recording one tackle during the 23–31 loss to the Denver Broncos.

In Week 11, Kirkpatrick recorded a season-high two combined tackles in the Bengals' 28–6 defeat over the Kansas City Chiefs.

The next week, he made a tackle in a 34–10 victory over the Oakland Raiders, but suffered a concussion and was unable to finish the game.

Kirkpatrick missed the following four games and was inactive for the rest of his rookie season.

He finished the 2012 season with four combined tackles and was limited to five games.

Kirkpatrick entered training camp in 2013 and competed for the starting cornerback role with Terence Newman, Leon Hall, and Adam "Pacman" Jones.

He was named the fourth cornerback on the depth chart behind Newman, Hall, and Jones.

On November 17, 2013, he collected two combined tackles and made his first career sack on Jason Campbell in a 41–20 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

On December 1, 2013, Kirkpatrick made his first career interception after he picked off a pass attempt by San Diego Chargers' quarterback Philip Rivers during a 14–10 victory.

The following week against the Indianapolis Colts, Kirkpatrick recorded a season-high six solo tackles in the Bengals' 42–28 victory.

On December 15, 2013, he made his first career start in place of Terence Newman who was out with an MCL injury and finished the 20–30 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers with four combined tackles.

On December 21, 2013, Kirkpatrick had his best game yet when he collected a season-high nine combined tackles, three pass deflections, and intercepted two passes From Baltimore Ravens' quarterback Joe Flacco, as the Bengals won 34–17.

He made his second interception during the fourth quarter and returned it for a 21-yard touchdown, marking the first touchdown of his career.

He finished the season with 30 combined tackles (23 solo), five pass deflections, three interceptions, a sack, and a touchdown in 14 games and three starts.

The Cincinnati Bengals received a playoff berth after finishing first in the AFC North with an 11–5 record.

On January 5, 2014, Kirkpatrick started his first career playoff games and made two solo tackles during the Bengals' 10–27 AFC Wildcard loss to the San Diego Chargers.

Throughout the Cincinnati Bengals' training camp in 2014, Kirkpatrick competed for the job as the starting cornerback against Adam Jones, Terence Newman, Leon Hall, and rookie Darqueze Dennard.