Ennis Rakestraw Jr. scouting report: Exploring the Missouri CB's strengths and weaknesses

One of 1000 top names of the 2020 recruiting class, Ennis Rakestraw Jr. immediately started all 10 games as a true freshman and led the team with six passes broken up.

His encore campaign was limited to just four games due to injury, but he would start all but one of 22 contests the following two seasons, recording 35 tackles exactly in each, six of those total for loss, one interception and 12 pass break-ups in 2022 (compared to only four total PBUs (and no INTs) this past season).

Details: 6-foot-0, 175 pounds; SR.

Breaking down Ennis Rakestraw Jr.'s scouting report

Ennis Rakestraw Jr #DB32 of Missouri participates in the 40-yard dash during the NFL Combine

Strengths

Man-coverage

• Ennis Rakestraw Jr. does an outstanding job of recognizing different pacing, route stems and tells of the guy across from him.
• Wasn’t asked to line up in press a whole lot, but when he did, Rakestraw showed a super-quick initial jam with one hand and the twitchy feet to stick with receivers through the release
• Has those superb reps where receivers just try to go through him and he never gets into catch-up mode, really bothering those guys and rounding off their route extensively, thanks to his 32-inch arms.
• Shows to stop his momentum on an island and close the gap to his man.
• Recognizes when he’s in control of the route and he can toggle his eyes back to the quarterback whilst staying attached to the target.
• Plays the pocket of receivers as well as any college corner you’re going to find.
• Regularly was moved inside for certain WR matchups and showed great confidence at defending against two-way go’s.
• Highly competitive with a short memory if he did lose a rep and stays glued to his target trying to get open on the scramble drill.

Zone-coverage

• Does such a good job in quarters of maintaining outside-stack position yet decelerating and blanketing any type of hitch/curl routes.
• Identifies any deceleration or raising of the shoulders by receivers pushing at him playing top-down in match coverage and slows his feet in order to quicken up when he does drive down on the actual break.
• Always alert to fall off for vertical pushers up the hashes and is ready to fall off towards them in cover three.
• You see him fly up and absolutely drill receivers just after they get their hands on the ball.
• Spent just over 100 snaps in the slot last season (465 total) and was tasked with different zone coverage assignments.
• From there you saw him fly out into a deep half at times for an inverted version of cover-two and do a good job of positioning himself between vertical routes.
• Only was charged with five total first downs and one touchdown (which came on a screen) in 2023 – 18-of-28 on 197 yards and one touchdown (on 277 coverage snaps).

Run defense & tackling

• Ennis Rakestraw Jr. is not afraid to step down and stick his nose in the fan when runs are coming his way – Earned an 89.0 PFF run defense grade in 2023.
• Has those strong triceps to press of receivers near the point of attack and create angles toward the ball for himself.
• Charges into blockers at the end of the line in condensed formations and bumps receivers trying to shield him backward towards the action.
• Diagnoses screens and uses his hands to attack blockers or rip through their reach, without getting too reckless.
• You love the physicality as a tackler, to square up and hit through the target, regularly putting guys on their backside – improved his miss rate every year, down to 8.3% this past season.
• When he follows receivers motioning in tight, there are plays where he auto-checks into blitzes and punches off bigger bodies to clamp at the legs of ball carriers.

Weaknesses

• Ennis Rakestraw Jr. is an average athlete for the position, short of six feet and lacking the speed (4.51) to make up for false steps.
• Will surrender extensive cushion in off-man and match coverages, making it tough to really challenge routes breaking in front of him.
• Can get a little overzealous working back down the stem and overshoot the target if he doesn’t time the arrival of the ball perfectly.
• Was penalized 13 times throughout his career and there could’ve been a few more from what I see – at least by NFL standards – pulling cloth slightly before the ball arrives at the target or just never looking back for the ball.
• Not particularly interested in getting involved in tackles if the ball isn’t really in his vicinity, as you see him jog over from the opposite side.

Ennis Rakestraw Jr.'s 2024 NFL Draft projection

Defensive back Ennis Rakestraw Jr. #2 of the Missouri Tigers celebrates his interception against the Abilene Christian Wildcats

If Ennis Rakestraw Jr. was just over six feet tall and ran a 4.4 or better, he probably ends up as a top-three corner in this class. He’s super competitive, anticipates/triggers on routes about as well as any defender in the draft, is extremely sound in his technique and embraces the physical aspect of the game.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t feature that kind of athletic profile, we didn’t see him play a ton of press-man and he only has one career interception. So he’s probably going to be a second-round pick now (I’d take him very early in the second), but I think he can be a quality number-two corner – depending on the system, on the far side of the field – from the day he is drafted pretty much.

Because I don’t believe Ennis Rakestraw Jr. has the recovery speed to make up for taking a false step or turning his body the opposite way initially, I wouldn’t consistently put him on the opposing team’s top receiver, but against a Z/flanker with a more limited route-tree, the opposing team probably won’t be finding a whole lot of success.

Ennis Rakestraw Jr. Grade: Early second round.

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