The recent news surrounding Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold has thrown quite the wrench into the team’s plans for its secondary.
While it remains to be seen what exactly will happen with the legal situation, it feels like a safe bet that Arnold won’t be playing for the Lions in 2026 – and probably not ever again. That makes it imperative to take another look at the rest of the team’s cornerbacks, especially with training camp just over a month away.
And there’s one corner in particular whose place on the roster just got a whole lot more interesting: fellow 2024 draftee Ennis Rakestraw Jr.
Rakestraw Jr. has an opportunity to firmly cement role with Lions in 2026
Rakestraw hasn’t been able to get his career going since the Lions made him a second round pick in 2024. A hamstring injury limited him to just eight games his rookie season, and his entire 2025 campaign was wiped out because of a hamstring injury suffered in practice.
Its limited Rakestraw to just 46 career snaps. Not at all ideal for a cornerback, a position where accumulating live, in-game reps is arguably more important than any position save for maybe quarterback or offensive tackle.
But with a starter likely out of the picture in 2026, a healthy Rakestraw could become a very important part of Detroit’s plans — with or without NFL experience.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to finally be healthy again,” Rakestraw said. “The injuries are just a part of the game, sad it had to be me….Hopefully the injury bug’s behind me.”
Coming out of Missouri, Rakestraw was a hard-nosed, physical cornerback who played with a mean streak and had the versatility to play inside or outside. Detroit planned to deploy him as a nickel cornerback in 2024 before the hamstring injury, but eventually shifted its focus towards having him play on the boundary. Injuries ultimately derailed that plan too, though.
Regardless, the unknown factor of Rakestraw makes him one of the most intriguing players on the entire team. If he’s able to come in and make an impact in 2026– either at nickel or outside cornerback— it would solve a major headache in Detroit’s secondary.
Rakestraw reportedly played well in OTAs and minicamp and earned reps aside D.J. Reed at outside corner - and that was before Arnold was arrested.
Right now, Rock Ya-Sin looks like the most likely candidate to step in for Arnold, and the Lions are probably fine with that. Ya-Sin is a steady veteran who played well last year.
But they invested a day 2 pick in Rakestraw, and with Arnold’s career in Detroit likely over, Rakestraw represents a chance for the Lions to recoup something in what already looks like a disastrous 2024 draft class.
With that line of thinking, it becomes easy to imagine the Lions will give Rakestraw plenty of chances to win some sort of starting job in training camp. They really can’t afford him being some kind of afterthought on the roster with the Arnold situation.
"I just want to be healthy. That's really it. I just want to play," Rakestraw said. "That's my only goal — to play."
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Rakestraw said he has bulked up this offseason to avoid injury, and Lions coaches have said there’s a spot for him if he can do that.
"The role is there for him if he can stay healthy," defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend said. "His body has changed. You can see physically how much mass and strength he's put into his shoulder and neck area, which is important. Just staying healthy is going to be big for him but his body most definitely looks different."
All of a sudden, Rakestraw staying healthy has gone from a nice luxury to an arguable necessity in Detroit’s secondary. At the very least, the Lions need the opportunity to see what they have in the third-year cornerback.
“The thing I always really wanted to do has not happened yet,” Rakestraw said about playing in the NFL. “That's what is keeping me hungry, because one day I'm going to finally fulfill the life of an NFL player, touch the field, do what I want to do and make Detroit proud of me.”
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