'I'll hit you like a linebacker': Lions double-dip with Missouri CB Rakestraw

Allen Park — The Lions selected a cornerback in the first round and went back to that well on Day 2 of the NFL Draft, taking Missouri's Ennis Rakestraw Jr. with the No. 61 pick overall in the second round.

Rakestraw doesn't offer some of the high-end athletic traits as the other top cornerback prospects in this draft. Standing at 5-foot-11, 183 pounds, his feisty playing style had long been identified as a stylistic fit for the Lions and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

"Ennis was a guy we had ranked very, very high," Lions general manager Brad Holmes said after the selection. "He’s another one that we didn’t think he was going to make it that far. We didn’t even know if he was going to make it out of really the first night. But when he was still there starting today, I didn’t think he was going to last that long. We were actually trying to get up, but we were just so far down (the board in the second round). A lot of people don’t really want to trade that far down, so we just kind of stayed pat. We were just thrilled that he landed there."

Holmes said the Lions had a couple of players, Rakestraw included, they liked above the other options available at the start of Day 2. There were plenty of trades early in the round and Holmes started making calls to teams selecting in the late 30s and early 40s, but either couldn't find a taker or the price was too rich.

Rakestraw said he likes to view himself as a tone-setter and has been called a firecracker by coaches and teammates. Even though he's undersized, relatively speaking to his position, he always strives to play bigger.

"I’ll hit you like a linebacker and I just let my presence be felt every play that I’m out there," Rakestraw said.

Like many of the players the Lions have amassed during Holmes' tenure, Rakestraw plays with a chip on his shoulder based on past slights. On Friday, he shared a story about being turned away at a high school all-star camp his junior year because of his size. That experience propelled him to become a coveted recruit a year later.

"I was at the gate, coach was supposed to let me in, but then he came back and said some of the guys said I don’t look like a Power Five athlete because I was so small," Rakestraw said. "I called my mom, my mom picked me up. I cried in the car, and I put an oath to myself that for the rest of this year, every four or five-star I face is going to feel me and I’m going to show them I’m that type of guy. And I did that and got to this point. There’s always going to be a chip on my shoulder, I was born with it."

Rakestraw initially ended up committing to Alabama, but reversed course to attend Missouri, the first school that has offered him a scholarship. He wanted to be part of something being built as opposed to joining the established powerhouse. He takes a great deal of pride in helping steer the team to an 11-2 record last season, the school's best in a decade.

Opponents rarely challenged Rakestraw during the 2023 campaign, targeting him just 28 times in nine games. The limited opportunities last season didn't help his ball production, and in four seasons at Missouri, he intercepted just one pass in 35 games. He also has an injury history, missing part of the 2021 season with a torn ACL.

The Rakestraw pick follows Detroit's selection of Alabama's Terrion Arnold in Round 1. The two rookies will join an overhauled cornerback room led by Carlton Davis III, who was acquired in a March trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The group is rounded out by free agent addition Amik Robertson and re-signed veterans Emmanuel Moseley, Kindle Vildor and Khalil Dorsey. Holmes expects the competition for playing time to be fierce this offseason.

"It’s a bloodbath in there now," Holmes said. "It is and that’s what makes everything better. It makes the room better, it makes the defense better, it makes the team better. Competition just brings the best out of everybody."

The back-to-back choices addressing the same position was reminiscent of Holmes' first draft as Detroit's general manager in 2021, when he selected defensive tackles Levi Onwuzurike and Alim McNeill with the team's second- and third-round picks that year.

After previously trading their third- and fourth-round selections, the Lions aren't scheduled to pick again until the fifth round, No. 164 overall.

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

@Justin_Rogers