Detroit Lions cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. received the lowest grade on the team following Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.
He was not impressed.
Pro Football Focus gave Rakestraw a 29.3 overall grade, placing him at the bottom of Detroit’s roster for the game. When asked about the evaluation Saturday, the former second-round pick fired back at PFF and questioned whether its graders understood what the Lions were asking him to do.
“I just hate how PFF did me, but it is what it is,” Rakestraw said. “They don’t know what they’re talking about anyway. They couldn’t even tell me what coverage we were in.”
There was no attempt to soften the message. Rakestraw believes the grade lacked the context needed to evaluate his performance accurately.
Rakestraw Disputes His 29.3 PFF Grade
A 29.3 grade is rough by any standard. PFF’s grading scale treats a mark below 30 as a badly negative performance, and Rakestraw’s score suggests he struggled throughout Detroit’s 16-14 loss in Cincinnati.
Rakestraw sees the film differently.
“I think I had one man-to-man rep where there was a catch on the out route,” Rakestraw said. “Other than that, it was mostly zone.”
That distinction is at the center of his disagreement.
A cornerback playing man coverage is usually responsible for one receiver. Zone assignments are more complicated. A defender may be required to protect a specific area, pass a receiver to a teammate or keep his eyes on the quarterback while anticipating another route entering his space.
A completed pass near Rakestraw does not automatically mean he blew the coverage. The safety could have been late. A linebacker might have failed to gain enough depth. The defense may have disguised its intentions before the snap.
PFF says its analysts grade every player on every play, using available camera angles and multiple layers of review. The system can provide valuable information, but the graders do not receive Detroit’s play calls or sit inside the Lions’ defensive meetings.
That leaves room for disagreement, especially when evaluating zone coverage.
Rakestraw’s Criticism Comes With a Challenge
Rakestraw’s frustration is understandable. It also creates a challenge for him.
Once a player publicly dismisses a 29.3 grade, every future snap receives more attention. The best response is not another quote. It is cleaner coverage, better communication and a performance that leaves less room for interpretation.
Rakestraw knows he was not perfect against Cincinnati.
“I just have to get better,” he said. “We’re all going to get better. Now it’s about getting ready for the next game.”
That acknowledgment matters. Rakestraw defended his understanding of Detroit’s assignments without pretending he played flawless football.
The Bengals completed passes in his direction, and his performance drew criticism even before the PFF grade became part of the conversation. Detroit’s coaching staff will review each snap with far more information than any public grading service possesses.
Those evaluations will carry the most weight.
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard knows the coverage call. Lions defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend knows the required leverage and technique. Dan Campbell knows whether Rakestraw carried out his assignment.
If Detroit’s coaches believe he did, the 29.3 means very little inside Allen Park. If they identify repeated mistakes, Rakestraw will need to correct them quickly.
Reaching the Game Was a Victory of Its Own
The PFF debate should not erase what Thursday night represented for Rakestraw.
“The goal was to get to this point,” Rakestraw said. “I wanted to get to a preseason game. Last year, when I stepped onto the field, my goal this year was first to make it through Day 1 because I got hurt on Day 1 last year. Then it was to make it to the first preseason game. I made it through.”
Detroit drafted Rakestraw with the No. 61 overall pick in 2024, expecting his physical coverage style and aggressive tackling to translate to the NFL. Injuries prevented him from building any real momentum during his first two seasons.
He appeared in only eight games as a rookie. Then a shoulder injury ended Rakestraw’s 2025 season before it began.
That history explains why reaching the preseason opener carried more emotional weight than most fans might realize.
“People thought I didn’t make it through, but I made it through the first preseason game,” Rakestraw said. “I just keep checking the small boxes every day. Everything will eventually come back to where it’s supposed to.”
Rakestraw briefly caused another scare when he was shaken up while making a low tackle. Testing revealed an arm contusion rather than structural damage, and he returned to practice after receiving encouraging medical news.
For a player whose career has repeatedly been interrupted, availability remains his first assignment.
The Lions Need More Than Potential
Detroit has spent more than two years waiting to see what Rakestraw can become.
His college film at Missouri showed a tough, instinctive cornerback who challenged receivers and willingly attacked the running game. Those qualities convinced Brad Holmes to invest a second-round selection in him.
The Lions now need production.
Rakestraw is competing for meaningful snaps in a secondary that cannot afford uncertainty. Staying healthy will give him that opportunity, but health alone will not secure his role. He must prove he can communicate inside Detroit’s zone concepts, hold up when isolated in man coverage and tackle without sacrificing his body on every collision.
One preseason grade will not determine his future. A collection of performances like the one PFF believed it saw against Cincinnati might.
That is why the next game matters.
Bottom Line
Ennis Rakestraw believes PFF’s 29.3 overall grade missed critical context because its analysts did not know Detroit’s coverage calls. He made that opinion perfectly clear.
He may have a valid point. Outside graders cannot always identify responsibility in a complicated zone defense, and a completion near a cornerback does not automatically belong on his ledger.
Rakestraw still has something to prove. After two injury-filled seasons, every healthy snap is valuable. His next task is to stack better days, eliminate questionable reps and produce a performance that neither PFF nor anyone else can grade harshly.