A few days after surrendering 667 total yards and 62 points to Tennessee, Missouri's defense has been dealt another blow.
Sophomore cornerback Ennis Rakestraw tore an ACL during the team's practice Tuesday, the school announced Wednesday morning. The release stated he will be out "indefinitely," but he is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
“Ennis is a tremendous competitor,” Eli Drinkwitz said. “It’s an unfortunate part of the game. We have a great sports medicine staff to manage his rehabilitation and our team will support him every step of the way.”
Rakestraw, a former three-star recruit out of Duncanville, Texas, made waves when he picked Missouri over Texas and Alabama on National Signing Day. He then started all 10 games as a true freshman last season. He has played significant snaps in four of the Tigers' five games so far this year, missing the matchup against Southeast Missouri due to injury. Rakestraw has amassed 37 tackles, one sack and eight pass break-ups during his college career.
Rakestraw tweeted Wednesday that he had been "battling my knee injury since the week of Kentucky."
In Raketraw's absence, the snaps at cornerback will likely be divided between Akayleb Evans, Allie Green IV and Ish Burdine. Evans, a graduate transfer from Tulsa, has played the most snaps of any player at the position so far this season. He has 12 tackles, two break-ups and an interception on the year. Burdine has played more than Green, another Tulsa transfer, but he did not see the field against Tennessee while Green played 66 snaps.
If the Tigers need further reinforcements at cornerback, they could move either Kris Abrams-Draine or Chris Shearin from slot corner to the outside. True freshman DJ Jackson could see his role expand, as well.
Because he has only appeared in four games this year, Rakestraw is eligible to medically redshirt this season. With last year not counting against the eligibility of any player, he could conceivably play four more college seasons after this one should he choose to do so.
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