Many of us believe the defense needs to get this team over the hump and that’s honestly been the issue since BH and DC took over. To be fair to BH, he has tried, with trades, free agency, and he’s drafted some damn good ones (Hutch, Jack, Kerby, Branch, McNeil) but also failed with some. injuries didn’t help. He went strong this year in the draft so we’ll see.
One guy that has been forgotten is Rakestraw. I thought Arnold was the best CB in that draft (so far he’s not), but Rakestraw was my favorite. I’m a big fan of his gritty, physical play. Reminds me of Brian Branch just not as strong.
Rake was an amazing value pick. I remember earlier in some mocks he wasn’t available to us in the 1st round.
While a lot of us are worried about the defense, and some of us wanted a CB drafted, well here’s this guy. It’s his time.
I mean he’s forgotten about because he was injured in college, injured as a rookie and didn’t play a snap in his second season. I wish the guy well. But he’s essentially a rookie entering year 3. If we get anything from him this season that would be great but I have serious doubts.
I think its crazy how often fans just expect players to come back from injury and perform like they did before. Especially when they’ve missed significant time. They are human beings, and sometimes when having like tough back to back injuries.. they might not even play or practice much over the course of YEARS! I easily forget aspects of my job if I don’t do it for like 6 months, then when I try to pick it up I have to like re-learn it. I can’t image what that is like at the highest level in a sport
Totally agree. In this case, we don’t even know how good Rake was “before.” We’ve never seen him. It feels awfully optimistic to assume he’s going to come in, essentially as a rookie who hasn’t played any real football in multiple years, and contribute much of anything. Best case feels like he makes the team out of camp, and gets active on game day with special teams snaps. That feels like a W for this season.
I agree that the defense needs to carry its load for us to be championship caliber. And I agree that the front office has tried to address it through various means.
Whatever we may get from Rakestraw going forward is purely bonus in my eyes. I hope he steps up and performs solidly. But I cannot see him as a value pick because there is no value from the IR. Until he can perform on the field, the pick is a busted 2nd rounder. But his story isn’t over yet. He can completely rewrite the narrative with his play on the field. Honestly, you can say that about every player from the 2024 draft.
I think the “wild” part is you could have essentially traded Rakestraw and Manu for Dejean. I’m still upset we did not trade up in the 2nd round for a guy that should have been a top 10 pick.
As a rookie Rakestraw wore number 15. Then switched to number 9 last year and now switching to number 2 this year. Seems like he is foreshadowing how many snaps he is going to play each season. The funny part is Rakestraw is an ironman compared to Moseley.
So yea in summary I gotta go with Bigfoot in regards to your question.
I felt he was too thin when drafted and nothing has changed. WR can be on the thin side because they do not get hit much. But any defensive player has to smash people and that requires some thickness…which he lacks.
I do not see how he survives more than a few games next season and is then done.
The NFL requires a certain level if physical presence, especially on defense.
I think BH made a reach and it failed. It happens.
I’d love to see rakestraw turn into the player we all hoped he’d be. At this point my hope is that he plays well enough to get us a comp pick after his contract is up.
