Big Board ranking: #29

Positional ranking: #3

 

Overview

Position: CB

College: Missouri

Class: Junior (RS)

Age: 22

 

Measurables

Height: 5’11 3/8”

Weight: 183 lbs.

Arm length: 32″

Hand size: 8 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.51 sec.

10-yard split: 1.54 sec.

Vertical jump: N/A

Broad jump: 120.0″

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Very sticky through the route. Feisty and competitive. Twitchy and quick to pounce on throws. Impressive strength on press jams. Great feet to stay with opponents out of the press. Sticks with opponents on vertical routes. Outstanding ability to stay on the hip of opponents on in-breaking routes. Exceptional burst breaking on the ball. Seems to have an eye on the quarterback while covering to break on throws quicker. Terrific getting a hand in at the catch point. Strikes at the opponent’s hands to break up passes. Tremendous playing post routes from deep zone coverage. Shows above-average speed in space. Not overmatched by bigger wideouts. Great instincts and reaction time. Excellent play recognition on wide receiver screens. Has experience at both left and right cornerback. Often dropped into the slot for man coverage. Quick sticking with slot receivers. Extremely aggressive tackler. Wraps up and strikes at the thighs of ball-carriers. Will lift opponents off their feet while wrapping. Aggressive diving for tackles if needed. Fills in on outside runs. Works to get off blocks. Gets angry when he allows a catch. Communicates with teammates during the play. Wasn’t thrown at when in the game and defense was worse when off the field versus LSU (2023).

 

Weaknesses

Length/build appears average. Might have slight stiffness opening hips. Allowed too much cushion for stop routes in Cover-3 and Cover-4 drops versus Tennessee (2023). Showed major emotion on touchdown allowed versus Kansas State that was eventually called back due to offensive pass interference (2023). Injury history with a torn ACL in 2021 and core muscle injury that required surgery in December.

 

NFL comparison

Roger McCreary

 

Conclusion

Overall, Rakestraw is a sticky and highly competitive cornerback that has shown he can cover all over the field. The burst, instincts, and willingness as a tackler should make him one of the top defensive backs selected this spring.