The Detroit Lions have selected former Missouri defensive back Ennis Rakestraw in the second round of 2024 NFL Draft with the No. 61 overall pick.
Over four seasons in Columbia, Rakestraw has compiled 107 total tackles for the Tigers, 24 pass breakups, one sack, a forced fumble and one interception. This season, he has racked up 35 total tackles and four PBUs.
This past season, Rakesteaw put together 35 total tackles, four PBUs and the aforementioned forced fumble. He did not play in the final two games of his Missouri career.
Before college, Rakestraw was a three-star recruit, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 83 defensive back in his class, but played well above his ranking during his collegiate career.
What experts are saying about Ennis Rakestraw
NFL analyst Lance Zierlein compared Rakestraw to Tennessee Titans defensive back Roger McCreary, who also played his college football in the SEC.
“Rakestraw plays the game with good physicality and a competitive tilt that defensive back coaches will enjoy. He’s strong but not as big or fast as teams usually like when picking within the first three rounds of the draft. However, he’s hard-nosed in press and has the body control and anticipation to play a sticky brand of man coverage over the first two levels. He’s quicker than fast and does a nice job of breaking quickly on throws in front of him with well-timed challenges to knock the ball free.
“He intercepted only one pass during his college career, which could be a concern, but his willingness and toughness in run support work in his favor. Rakestraw could become a good backup with eventual starter potential in the right scheme.”
Zierlein listed Rakestraw’s strengths as being highly competitive, is tough, jams receivers at the line of scrimmage, has excellent body control, drives hard to throw off coverages, runs through targets and uses well-timed maneuvers to disrupt catches.
For his weaknesses, Zierlein believes that there’s room for improvement when it comes to his handsy style of play, which will be flagged in the NFL, has trouble turning his head to find the football on deep throws, displayed some confusion in zone conference in 2022, not to mention that he has a history of injuries after tearing his ACL in 2021 and missing time with a groin injury this past season.
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