Lions
Lions DBs coach Deshea Townsend said they want to evaluate CB Ennis Rakestraw in the outside role this offseason.
“Right now, we’re going to let him focus outside,” Townsend said, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s site. “Let him go compete out there.”
Townsend has been impressed with Rakestraw’s mindset and thinks the cornerback understands where things went wrong last season.
“The thing I do like about how he came back was just his mindset,” Townsend said. “You can tell that he understood what went wrong last year, and some things that you can’t control are injuries. He understands that in our room, it’s all about competition anyway. We don’t care who gets a rep. A rep doesn’t care who gets it this time of year. But when you get it, you’d better make sure you’re doing the right things. That’s our room. You’re going to have to prove it. You better come in here ready to compete, and I think we have a lot of good guys in there.”
Lions HC Dan Campbell expects Rakestraw to take “another step up” with his development in 2025.
“I would anticipate this guy takes another step up, man,” Campbell said. “We’re not down on him. We’re not disappointed. We expect him to go in there and compete, man. There is nothing set in stone. You draft guys where you do, and you sign guys according to what you think they’re going to be for you, but the best man is going to play. So, he’s very much in that mix.”
Packers
Packers WR Matthew Golden became the first receiver to be taken in the first round by Green Bay in 22 years. Jordan Love has gotten a great first impression of Golden and thinks he’s already a “very polished receiver.”
“He’s a great dude,” Love said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “I’m excited to see just his potential on the football field. But just the start we’ve had, doing routes on air and things like that, he looks like a stud, looks like a very polished receiver, so I’m excited to see just how far he can take it.”
Packers HC Matt LaFleur said Love is planning to get the ball out early to account for Golden’s speed after the receiver logged a 40-yard dash of 4.29 seconds.
“You always want to kind of connect with the quarterback when you give him some pieces, so I Facetimed him and he’s like, ‘Man, sub-4.3 … I gotta get that arm loose,’ ” LaFleur said. “So he can roll, and I said, ‘Hey, man, you’re just going to have to get that ball up on time and out early.’ ”
Love is eager to see how Golden’s speed looks on the field.
“The speed speaks for itself. Running a 40-yard dash, any time you get a 4.2, that’s some blazing speed right there, so I’m excited to see how fast he is on the field,” Love said. “I’ve seen all the highlights, all the good stuff, so we’ll see once we get practice rolling and everything how good he is.”
Vikings
Heading into his second season after being a first-round pick in 2024, Vikings OLB Dallas Turner has learned to sit back and listen to those who have succeeded in this league.
“There’s a lot of stuff you can learn from that first year, no matter how it goes, just by being around the team, the company you’re around,” Turner said, via Lindsey Young of the team’s website. “I feel like that was the biggest lesson and, like, the biggest turning point of that year — just being around the dudes and observing. Listening. Going from college … you’re in a whole different ball game [now].”
Turner also discussed the work he’s put in this offseason to get physically stronger and get his body where it needs to be.
“I feel pretty strong. Been in the lab a lot during the offseason, having the opportunity and time to see what I really need to work on physically and attack it head-on. … I’ve been putting in a lot of extra time, and it’s starting to show.”
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