Rising Ennis Rakestraw eager "to play a Cheesehead for real"

Each rep for Ennis Rakestraw is another data point. Each game is another step forward. And three games into his third season, the data says Rakestraw has been one of the best man corners in the NFL.

In fact, when it comes to preventing separation in press man coverage, Rakestraw has been as sticky as Sauce Gardner and Jaycee Horn, two of the best in the business. In the chart below -- where corners in the top right are most often in press-man and most consistently in tight coverage -- Rakestraw is in the same neighborhood as the likes of Gardner, Christian Gonzalez and Trent McDuffie. Quinyon Mitchell and Denzel Ward are up there, too.

"I didn’t know about this," Rakestraw said Tuesday, viewing the chart for the first time. "That’s crazy to see, though. I’m just doing my job, being in-phase with the receiver. Now the next step is to disrupt the ball more and get the ball off of them. I’m just trying to get a step closer, that’s all I really want. That graph’s cool and all. But I need the ball. I need the ball."

Asked about his company in said chart, Rakestraw didn't want to say much more. He knows that after missing most of his first two seasons due to injuries, he has a long way to go to earn those comparisons. Three solid games is no reason to celebrate: "Just keep on getting better, keep on working, keep my head down and just be me," he said.

But for this Lions defense, Rakestraw's performance thus far is meaningful. Potentially significant. He's played almost twice the number of defensive snaps through three games that he played in his first two seasons, almost all of them on the outside, a lot of them in tight man coverage. And his role continues to grow, from 23 snaps in his season debut to 35 in the Lions' win over the Cardinals before the bye.

It was no coincidence that in a game where Detroit's defense reverted to its man coverage roots, Rakestraw played more than ever. In his own words, "I was drafted here to play man." The Lions played tons of zone in the first four games, aiming to create more takeaways and limit the explosives. They created a disjointed secondary instead. Their pass defense ranks last in the NFL.

The switch to more man against the Cardinals may or may not have been a sign of things to come. Dan Campbell said it was the right scheme for that opponent. It also appeared to be the right scheme for their own personnel, D.J. Reed included. Rakestraw has relished the 1-on-1 nature of man coverage for as long as he's played the position, "my whole life."

"My stepdad always told me I’m a man-to-man corner," Rakestraw said. "He just watched me, how I could dissect routes and mimic a receiver, and he was like, 'You’re not a zone corner. You’re man to man.' And I just embraced it, and when I got to college I saw I was a pretty good man-to-man player. It’s me versus him, who wants to win the battle. I’d rather it be like that, because put it all on my shoulders."

Coming out of Missouri in 2024, Rakestraw was one of the top corners in a draft deep at that position. One scouting report described him as "a premier man-coverage CB with elite press skills and a natural ability to shadow receivers downfield ... While competent in zone, Rakestraw's skill set is maximized in man schemes where his lock-down capability and instinctual play are on full display."

Asked this week about the upcoming matchup with the Packers, Rakestraw broke into a grin: "It’s my first time being in real division (action), man. Get to play a Cheesehead for real, for real this time." Turns out, Rakestraw once thought he'd be a Cheesehead himself.

"Because in the draft process I talked to them, that was potentially a team I was going to. So to get to play them and get to show them that I could’ve been there if that’s what it would’ve been -- just gotta do that," he said.

The Packers took offensive tackle Jordan Morgan in the first round in 2024, then passed on Rakestraw twice more in the second for linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and safety Javon Bullard. The latter pick looks like a particular hit. Three picks after Bullard, the Lions took Rakestraw 61st overall, doubling up at corner after jumping Green Bay to take Terrion Arnold in the first. So far, advantage Packers.

Asked if he thought the Packers were going to take him in the first round, Rakestraw said, "If I never got hurt, you never know what would’ve happened. I feel like everything happened for a reason. I got hurt to be a Lion, and now it’s time for me to show why … I just remember my whole draft process I was just this top guy, and then I had the sports hernia (late in his senior season) and ran slow at the combine and couldn’t do anything at my pro day, and fell into the second round. But everything happens for a reason."

Rakestraw played a handful of snaps against the Packers in 2024, but Sunday will be different. He'll likely be out there a bunch against Christian Watson, Matthew Golden and one of the most dangerous downfield passing attacks in the NFL. Jordan Love and the Packers lead the league in completions of 40-plus yards (8) and rank third in completions of 20-plus yards (24). The Lions have allowed almost five completions of 20-plus yards per game, the most in the NFL.

Gulp.

The Packers have won three straight after a rocky start, and Watson and Golden rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the NFL in receiving yards. No other team has two players in the top 10.

"It’s a division game, they're steamrollin' right now, and those two guys are making a real big name in the league right now, so every opportunity you want as a football player, as a defense that’s hungry, as a defense that everybody swears is struggling but they don’t really know what’s going on, it’s a big test for us," Rakestraw said.

With respect to Rakestraw, people do know what's going on. So do the Lions' decision-makers. If they didn't see their secondary as a weakness so far, they wouldn't have been "very much in" on Joey Porter Jr., as Dan Campbell confirmed, before the star corner was dealt to the Cowboys. They remain on the hunt for a proven corner ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline. Zyon McCollum of the Buccaneers bears watching, for one.

But Rakestraw's continued emergence could change the picture for the Lions. It's part of the reason it behooves them to play him more and more in the weeks ahead. One way or another, they need to find out if Rakestraw is an answer across from Reed, who frankly has become a question mark himself. The next few weeks are a chance for Raketraw to prove that he's the guy the Lions are looking for.

"I just gotta worry about myself," he said. "If they go get a corner, they go get a corner. Whatever move they make is the best move for the team, so 100 percent behind whatever they want. Obviously we feel like we can do it here, but if they don’t feel like that, they’re the ones who gotta make the big decisions. If we trade for a corner, we don’t know if one of us will be gone or one of us stays, so we just try to stay getting better and better every week, and try to give them a reason to not make that kind of move."

The Lions like what they've seen from Rakestraw thus far, but he's yet to start. He's played almost strictly on the outside in nickel packages, when Roger McCreary bounces inside to the slot. McCreary had six pass breakups against the Cardinals (wow!), but was targeted a whopping 18 times (yikes!).

McCreary, the current CB2, has allowed a passer rating in coverage this season, per PFF, of 111.6 (on 32 targets). Rakestraw has allowed a rating of 63.8 (on 11). Among corners who've defended at least 10 targets, that's tied for 16th with sixth overall pick Mansoor Delane of the Chiefs.

"He’s gotten better, there is improvement," Campbell said this week on Lions Review. "There again, he’s not a rookie, he’s not a second-year guy, but yet he kinda is because he hasn’t played very much football. There is a maturation for him that’s taking place that is critical, so we see a growing player, an ascending player. And the only way to get there is to continue to compete, and the more reps you get, the better you’re going to get.

"So look, he’s going to get his opportunities. And as long as he just goes and competes -- because God gave him a gift -- and makes the most of it, he’s going to get more opportunities here."

Watson has posed problems for the Lions in past. He's caught 13 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns in his last three games at Ford Field. He stretches a defense vertically. If Detroit dedicates extra resources to containing him on Sunday, we might see Rakestraw one-on-one on the other side with Golden, one of the fastest receivers in the league. Asked about the duo, Rakestraw pointed right to Golden, his fellow Texas native.

"So I already kind of know who he was, being from there. I remember him when he was at Houston, I remember when he transferred to Texas, so I’ve been knowing who he was. I’m happy for him that he’s excelling. But like I say man, we all get paid a check to play in the league and they expect you to go win your matchup, so we gotta win more than we lose."

Rakestraw is earning his keep in year three. He's not celebrating his first burst of success in the NFL, not after it took so long. He's focused on "getting my role bigger and bigger, expanding my vision and football intelligence, and it’s going to all work out in the end."