Missouri cornerback tears ACL during practice

Missouri cornerback Ennis Rakestraw suffered an ACL tear during Tuesday’s practice, according to Dave Matter of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The sophomore only played in four games this season, saving him a year of eligibility under the NCAA’s redshirt rules.

Ennis Rakestraw saw inconsistent action over the first five games of the season, before tearing his ACL. He made 13 tackles with one quarterback hit and two pass deflections in his time on the field. Rakestraw did not play against Southeast Missouri State in Week Three and only played 30 snaps against Tennessee in Week Five.

In his absence, Missouri will turn to Akayleb Evans, Allie Green IV and Kris Abrams-Draine as the top three cornerbacks. Safeties Martez Manuel and Jaylon Carlies complete the secondary.

Rakestraw, a former three-star recruit, chose Missouri over Alabama, Texas and others coming out of Duncanville High School in Texas. In high school, Rakestraw helped guide the football powerhouse to back-to-back state championship appearances.

Eli Drinkwitz scraps depth chart

Even before the loss of Ennis Rakestraw, the Missouri defense was in scramble mode. The team fired defensive line coach Jethro Franklin after the Week Five loss against Tennessee and then head coach Eli Drinkwitz tore apart the depth chart.

“There’s no depth chart,” Drinkwitz told the media on Tuesday, via Saturday Down South. “There’s Tuesday’s practice. After Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ll have a better feel for who we think is going to play. But there’s no depth chart.”

Sustaining an injury on the same day the depth chart opens up is an unfortunate turn for Rakestraw. But the injury further opens up the competition for others in the Missouri defense to earn play time ahead of Saturday’s game against North Texas.

“Normally, you go out there and the starters know who they are, the twos know who they are and you kind of go through practice, but there’s no starters right now,” said Drinkwitz. “It’s not business as usual. It’s not business as the previous five weeks. It’s kind of like fall camp again. Whoever plays and practices the best is going to be the one that plays Saturday.”

The free-for-all approach seems to be a last resort for Drinkwitz to regain control of the 2021 season, which is starting to spiral. After starting the season with a win over Central Michigan, the Tigers have lost three of the last four. Their only win over that stretch came against Southeast Missouri State, who still scored 28 points.

Over the past two weeks, Missouri has given up 41 points to Boston College and 62 points to Tennessee. The Tigers have started conference play 0-2 with Arkansas, Florida and Georgia still ahead.