The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Ennis Rakestraw.
Rakestraw is one of those corners whose tape you love to watch because of how he plays with a feisty, competitive swagger and attitude. He never allows his thin frame and less-than-ideal weight (183 pounds) to negatively impact his approach and physicality. This was especially evident as a run defender, where he was as physically tough and competitive as any corner in the draft.
Rakestraw’s 2023 tape showed he could be effective on the outside, playing press man coverage and off-coverage with the athletic traits to be successful in both techniques. Some teams could see him more as a slot corner, given his lack of desired size for the outside, his short-area burst, quickness, and toughness playing the run.
Rakestraw’s tackling ability will be a big factor for many teams. He is more than a cover corner and might also lead teams to believe slot corner is his better transition. Rakestraw has extensive experience playing outside corner and slot corner. If teams believe his thin frame presents an issue outside, then he can be deployed in the slot with the needed athletic and competitive traits to succeed there.
Remember that Denzel Ward came out of Ohio State with the same height/weight measurables as Rakestraw. The difference is that Ward’s overall athletic testing numbers, including a 4.32 40-yard dash, were clearly better than Rakestraw’s. Ward was the fourth-overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Rakestraw consistently played press man on the outside at a high level with patience, discipline, balance, body control and hip fluidity to open and match the receiver’s release. At times, he used his plus arm length to jam and disrupt. The more I watched Rakestraw’s tape, the more I liked him, especially given his high-level competitiveness and mental toughness.
Rakestraw played four years at Missouri, becoming a starter in his freshman season. He suffered a season-ending ACL injury in his sophomore season of 2021 but returned in 2022 to start all 13 games. Rakestraw came out of Dallas as a three-star recruit after being part of a high school team that made back-to-back Texas state championship game appearances.
Rakestraw played significant snaps outside as the boundary and field corner and in the slot in Missouri’s sub-defenses. He has outstanding positional versatility, with extensive experience playing multiple coverage concepts. Rakestraw was deployed as a blitzer when aligned as the boundary corner. He also showed the versatility to sink from the slot and play half-field safety in Cover 2.
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