Name: Ennis Rakestraw Jr.

School: Missouri

Year: Junior

Position: CB

Measurables: 6’0”, 188 lbs (Missouri Website).

Combine: ARM: HAND: VERTICAL: BROAD: BENCH: 40-YD DASH: 4.51 10-YD SPLIT: 1.54 BROAD: 10':

Stats:

{Al will insert stats here}

Courtesy of Sports-Reference.com

General Info:

Despite a decorated career at Duncanville High in Texas, Ennis Rakestraw Jr., was not an especially highly touted recruit coming out of high school. 247Sports considered Rakestraw a composite three-star prospect for the 2020 class, and the 70th best CB recruit. Nationally, Rakestraw was considered the 896th overall recruiting prospect by 247Sports. Still, he received 27 offers, ultimately committing to Missouri over Alabama, Texas, Michigan State, and Miami (amongst others).

Mizzou did not hesitate to throw Rakestraw straight into the fire, as he started all 10 of the Tigers games in 2020. He was the first true freshman to be an opening day starter on defense since 2017, and he was up to the task. Rakestraw recorded a team leading six passes defensed, along with 24 tackles and a sack, though he was not able to come down with any interceptions.

Rakestraw’s 2021 started nicely, with 13 tackles and two passes defensed in four games. However, he suffered a season ending injury (torn ACL) against Boston College (in that fourth game), leading to him being redshirted due to injury as a sophomore.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2022, Rakestraw bounced back well. He started all 13 games and managed the first interception of his career. His 12 passes defensed were second on Mizzou’s roster and 25th in the nation.

2023 was Rakestraw’s final season, as he declared for the NFL Draft following a decent year. He recorded 35 tackles for the second consecutive season and broke up four passes.

Rakestraw was invited to the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl, but wound up sitting out because of a surgery. He has also been invited to the annual NFL Scouting Combine, and should be recovered enough to participate in measurable and positional drills. Rakestraw is projected to be a first round pick by most pundits, and likely goes early in the second at the latest.

Positional Skills:

Strengths:

Rakestraw is at his best when he is allowed to play physically. He thrives in press and was one of the stickiest man coverage Corners in college football last season.

Flexible, fluid CB. He not just changes direction well, but can do so suddenly, allowing him to respond quickly to WR breaks and disrupt their timing. Rakestraw also has excellent balance which makes him really hard to shake.

Speaking of disrupting timing, Rakestraw’s skill in press coverage deserves another mention. He is a masterful defender off of the line of scrimmage. Rakestraw has the athleticism and instincts to hold his own against a variety of releases off the line and a deep repertoire of tools he uses to jam WRs at the line.

Experience on the boundary and in the slot.

Willing and very capable run defender. Does a good job working against blocks and wraps-up ball carriers.

Weaknesses:

Rakestraw’s raw stats were nothing special. He only recorded a single interception in his career and his passes defensed in his career don’t really stand out.. Some of that might be how proficient he is in man—there might be some island effect there, which the tape supports—but it is worth flagging as a concern.

A lean frame leaves some room for how he will manage against bigger WRs. Rakestraw can bully smaller players, but his lack of size could be exposed by the AJ Browns and Mike Evans of the NFL.

Rakestraw does not have the ideal speed for an NFL Corner. His technical proficiency and fluidity in man coverage covers for the lack of speed to some extent, but if he gets beat off of a break, Rakestraw is beat. There isn’t makeup speed.

His physicality sometimes gets him into trouble—Rakestraw gets grabby, especially against faster WRs (again, probably a consequence of his relative lack of speed) and that is going to result in some holds, illegal contacts, and DPIs.

Fit with the Packers:

New Defensive Coordinator Jeff Halfley has expressed a desire to have an aggressive, press-man defense—exactly the kind of defense that Ennis Rakestraw thrives in. There are a lot of questions about the Packers CB room right now: will Carrington Valentine take the next step? Is Eric Stokes going to be able to return to rookie form three years and a devastating injury later? Is Keisean Nixon going to be back? It is incredibly likely that the Packers address Corner early in the draft, potentially in the first round where Rakestraw is expected to be picked. CB is a definite need this year and is a premium position. Ultimately, although he might be a little slower than Green Bay tends to like at the position, Rakestraw is perfect fit for their new defensive scheme, has the fluidity and attitude the Packers like, and could easily be their first round pick in 2024.

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