Steve Keim is headed to his 19th Scouting combine. A GM now, Keim started as an area scout, has his roots in scouting and still enjoys the evaluation process of college prospects most of all. It's one of the reasons he likes heading to Indianapolis each year.

"It brings everything full circle, and it reminds me of why I got in this business," Keim said. "Sometimes, in this position (of GM), you get pulled in a lot of different directions. And I have said many times, you feel like one of things you do well and that put you in this position, is one of the things you do the least nowadays."

Indy is the place that truly seems to be the kickoff of the new league year. Officially, the new league year (and free agency) begins March 9, but this is really when talk of the new season, and the draft, begins in earnest. The Cards are sending 64 total staff out there to assess various things: Potential draftees, situations with impending free agents, medical updates. It's the off-field stuff -- the medical and the interviews -- that are the most important. Everyone has seen these kids play, and what they can do on the field. It's so much about projection in that regard anyway. Part of that projection is whether the guy can hold up mentally, on the field, in the classroom, in the locker room (and also stay healthy -- again, the medical part).

It's also a time for Keim to speak face-to-face with the agents of impending free agents, most notably those of safety Tony Jefferson and defensive lineman Calais Campbell. Time is running out before free agency. Things are going to move quickly here, and rosters for 2017 will begin to take shape.