Cycle rank is one of the depth parameters for digraphs introduced by Eggan in 1963. We show that there exists a function $f:\mathbb{N}\to \mathbb{N}$ such that every digraph of cycle rank at least $f(k)$ contains a directed cycle chain, a directed ladder, or a directed tree chain of order $k$ as a butterfly minor. We also investigate a new connection between cycle rank and a directed analogue of the weak coloring number of graphs.