At Scouting Combine, Packers Might Pass on Cornerback Ennis Rakestraw
GREEN BAY, Wis. – For the Green Bay Packers, who will enter the 2024 NFL Draft with a need at cornerback, one of these players is not like the other.
Relative Athletic Score is a 0-to-10 grading scale that takes into account a player’s height, weight and athleticism. Like most general managers, Green Bay’s Brian Gutekunst covets players with elite physical traits.
In 2018, he used a first-round pick on cornerback Jaire Alexander. His RAS was 9.54. In 2021, he used a first-round pick on cornerback Eric Stokes. With electric speed, Stokes’ RAS was 9.37. Even looking down the line, 2018 second-round pick Josh Jackson had a 9.27 RAS. Carrington Valentine, a seventh-round pick last year, had a 9.29 RAS.
Missouri’s Ennis Rakestraw Jr. entered the Scouting Combine considered one of the top cornerback prospects in the draft. NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, for instance, had him No. 3 at the position and his No. 23 overall prospect.
However, after running a disappointing 40-yard dash on Friday, Rakestraw’s initial RAS was 4.79. That’s certain to change – his unofficial 40-yard time of 4.54 seconds rather than the official 4.51 seconds was used and there are other events to come. Plus, he can always run the 40 again at Missouri’s pro day.
Regardless, it seems almost impossible to believe Gutekunst would use a first-round pick on a cornerback with average height (5-foot-11 3/8) and athleticism and limited ball skills (one career interception despite sticky coverage).
There are “a lot of gifted” cornerbacks at the Combine, Rakestraw told reporters a day earlier.
By physical traits, he is not one of them.
That doesn’t mean Rakestraw can’t play or be a success in the NFL.
He allowed only 18-of-28 passing during his final season at Missouri. According to Pro Football Focus, 112 FBS-level cornerbacks in this draft class played 275-plus coverage snaps in 2023. He ranked 31st in that group with 14.7 snaps per reception allowed. He missed only three tackles last season and 10 tackles the past three seasons. Of his 465 snaps in 2023, he played 337 at corner and 104 in the slot, so the versatility is present.
“What sets me apart for teams is my physicality and my tackling and my press-man at the line of scrimmage,” he said.
In total, eight cornerbacks broke 4.40 seconds on Friday.
Leading the sprints was Clemson’s Nate Wiggins in a blistering 4.28 seconds. However, he was a rail-thin 173 pounds, which dinged his RAS (9.42).
Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell, who, starting with a dominant week at the Senior Bow has aced the predraft process, was next at 4.33 seconds. With elite athleticism (38-inch vertical) and excellent height (6-foot 1/8), his RAS was 9.75.
Rutgers’ Max Melton couldn’t match the 40 time posted by his brother, Packers receiver Bo Melton, a couple years ago but had a phenomenal day with a 4.39 in the 40, a fourth-ranked 40.5-inch vertical jump and a No. 1-ranked 11-foot, 4-inch broad jump. His RAS was 9.65.
“You've got to be able to cover, and you've got to be able to hit,” Melton told reporters. “On defense, there's no fear. We like to say we play on the Dark Side and that's what it takes.”
Rakestraw’s Missouri teammate, Kris Abrams-Draine, ran his 40 in 4.44. After starting his career at receiver, he had zero interceptions and 14 passes defensed in 2022 and four interceptions and 13 passes defensed in 2023.
“I'm trying to prove that I'm one of the best DBs in the draft and I can hang with the best of them and that my technique has gotten better and I'm fast,” he said.
Alabama’s Terrion Arnold, who probably is battling Wiggins to be the first cornerback off the board, ran his 40 in 4.50 seconds and has an 8.37 RAS. He is an elite player with an elite work ethic.
“My granddad was a roofer, so I like to correlate roofing with football,” Arnold told reporters. “My granddad always told me on that roof no one is coming to save you, so when I’m on that roof and its high-pitch walking up there, you’re slipping on the fiberglass, you kind of get a little rocky, a little shaky. You know that if you lose confidence in yourself, you’re going to slip and fall.
“It’s the same way at cornerback.”
His Crimson Tide sidekick, Kool-Aid McKinstry, is dealing with a Jones fracture in a foot. He will skip tests at the Combine, perform at pro day and then have surgery, according to NFL.com. He should be ready for the start of training camp.
Looking further down the draft rankings, Penn State’s Daequan Hardy (4.38 40, 42.5-inch vertical), Florida State’s Jarrian James (4.38 40, 39.5 vertical), Boston College’s Elijah Jones (4.44 40, 42.5 vertical), Kentucky’s Andru Phillips (4.48 40, 42 vertical) had strong days.
