Raycast to check for potential pitfalls

Currently I have my enemies moving around using Raycast obstacle avoidance. "if (checkObstacles)"

The code below steers the enemy away from obstacles. Right now, I'm trying to have my enemies check ahead and down to see if there isn't any thing there, and if so, steer the enemy away from an potential pit until he detects a surface.

The direction Vector is the enemy's movement, and this code basically "rotates" the enemy by manipulating the direction vector.

Right now, I am having trouble with both making the raycast shoot forward and down in the if statement that starts off "if (checkPitfalls)". The enemy doesn't acknowledge the lack of a raycast collision and just keeps running off the level.

     //First Offset where the ray should end up
     Vector3 pitRayOffset = new Vector3(0, 0, 1);
 
     //Then Shoot it down
     Vector3 pitCheckRay =  trans.TransformDirection(0, -2, 0);
     
     if (checkPitfalls)
     {
         Debug.DrawRay(trans.localPosition + pitRayOffset, (pitCheckRay) * 2, Color.cyan);
         RaycastHit groundCheck;
         if (!Physics.Raycast(trans.localPosition + pitRayOffset, pitCheckRay, out groundCheck, 2))
         {
             print("NO GROUND");
             Debug.DrawRay(trans.localPosition + pitRayOffset, (pitCheckRay) * .5f, Color.red);
             direction = -direction;//+= (direction.magnitude * groundCheck.normal) * (percision * Time.smoothDeltaTime);
         }/*raycast*/
      }/*for loop*/
     
     direction.Normalize();
     direction.y = _holdTheJump;
     steeringRays.Clear();

     Quaternion rot = Quaternion.LookRotation(new Vector3(direction.x, 0, direction.z));
     trans.rotation = Quaternion.Slerp(trans.rotation, rot, 3 * Time.smoothDeltaTime);   

I edited the script down to where the problem lies. The offset for the ray isn't rotating correctly when the enemy moves, so it isn't offsetting correctly.

In a nutshell, the ray isn't facing the forward direction: [Topdown view]