After an injury riddled 2024, this second-year cornerback should have a big role this season.

The 2025 Detroit Lions roster is litered with second-year players that are due for big seasons.

Whether it’s because they didn’t have a spot in 2024 or they were injured all season, some guys didn’t get their opportunity to shine during their rookie season.

Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report wrote an article on Monday naming one potential breakout player from every NFL team. One of those second-year players that didn’t get their opportunity last season was picked as the Lions’ potential breakout player, and I couldn’t agree more.

Lions second-year cornerback should be ready to roll in 2025

Ballentine named the Lions’ 2024 second-round pick Ennis Rakestraw Jr. as a potential breakout player. The Mizzou cornerback was taken with the 61st pick in the 2024 draft, but unfortunately missed most of his rookie season.

After dealing with a hamstring injury for essentially the entire season, Rakestraw Jr. only appeared in four games for the Lions, recording just six total tackles. Rakestraw Jr. was the second cornerback taken by the Lions in 2024, after Terrion Arnold went in the first round to Detroit.

It was a tale of two seasons for these rookie defensive backs, with Arnold starting for the entire season and Rakestraw Jr. having to watch from the sidelines. If not for injury, Rakestraw Jr. would have gotten plenty of snaps as well, as the Lions’ secondary was banged up all season.

This season, fans and analysts expect Rakestraw Jr. to get plenty of playing time. Lions DB coach Deshea Townsend announced that Rakestraw Jr. is going to focus on playing as an outside corner while Robertson, Maddox, and occasionally Branch play in the slot.

This gives Rakestraw Jr. even more of an opportunity to see the field, as he is essentially the third outside cornerback for Detroit after the newly acquired D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold. This means he will be in a rotation on the outside and will likely start if Reed or Arnold suffer any injuries.

Lions GM Brad Holmes took Ennis in the second round for a reason: He believes he is a starting-caliber cornerback.

“We didn’t even know if he was going to make it out of the [first round],” said Holmes after drafting Rakestraw Jr. in 2024. “When he was still there starting the [second round], I didn’t think he was going to last that long. We were just thrilled that he landed there.

Holmes’ track record in the draft has been phenomenal since he landed in Detroit in 2021, and Lions fans should trust that the highly-drafted players who haven’t seen many snaps yet can still pan out to be great players in this league.