The Detroit Lions have consistently been tinkering with their cornerback room and Week 8 was no different. After they shuffled five different names at outside cornerback in the Lions’ Week 7 win over the Green Bay Packers, the Lions shuffled four different cornerbacks in during their Week 8 win against the Minnesota Vikings.
The odd man out in Week 8 was rising third-year cornerback Ennis Rakestraw. Rakestraw did have a bit of an ankle injury to deal with throughout the week. However, he was limited on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and was a full participant Friday without a designation.
Rakestraw was active and played one snap in the Lions’ win.
Detroit Lions Bench Ennis Rakestraw in Week 8 Win Over the Minnesota Vikings
Rakestraw had been progressing. He was banged up in training camp and was inactive in the first two weeks of the season. However, injuries to cornerbacks and poor play caused the team to activate him.
Rakestraw played 23 snaps, amounting to 35% in Week 3. The following week, he was up to 31 snaps, which was 41%. He saw a peak of 35 snaps, or 48% of the total snap share in Week 5.
However, his snaps started to decline coming out of the bye week. He played 21 snaps in Week 7, but that was down to 31%. Now, in Week 8, he played just one snap.
Head coach Dan Campbell was not asked about benching Rakestraw or the team’s plans at cornerback. However, the name stepping up and taking his spot is now Khalil Dorsey, who was a special teams asset.
Lions Continue to Rotate at Cornerback
The Lions started Rock Ya-Sin on the outside in the first two weeks and started to mix things up after that. From Weeks 3 through 5, the team played Roger McCreary on outside in base downs. Then, they would shift him into the slot on nickel snaps and play Rakestraw on the outside.
However, coming out of the bye, they had a new plan. They started to mix Ya-Sin back in and they saw Dorsey emerge for the first time. Ya-Sin played 14 snaps in Week 7 and then jumped to 24 snaps in Week 8.
Dorsey played 20 snaps in all of 2025. He has 37 snaps this year. He played 14 snaps in Week 7 and 21 snaps the following week. The extra 17 snaps these two took on are essentially the snaps that Rakestraw would have played.
D.J. Reed has also been in the mix, but played 42 of the team’s 53 snaps. He is a primary starter. Still, they continue to use a platoon. They have eliminated one player for now.
We will see if Campbell addresses Rakestraw not playing and what the team will do next week after holding the Vikings in Week 8.
Lions Bench Former 2nd-Round Pick After Win