The Oakland Raiders got a top-15 talent at No. 24 overall but took a risk for him!
I didn’t’ see the former Ohio State CB Gareon Conley going past No. 15 overall a couple of weeks ago. He’s 6’0″, 200 pounds and has 33-inch long arms made for press coverage. He also has some instincts so he can jump route when asked to play zone.
And he has plenty of athleticism with a 4.44 40, a 37-inch vertical leap and a 6.68 3-cone drill. Conley used his combination of goods to allow a 37 percent completion rate. He did this while teams picked on him on the other side of No. 11 overall pick Marshon Lattimore too.
There was nothing not to like until he was accused of raping a woman a few days ago. Conley denies the accusation and passed a lie detector test while doing so. At the same time, the alleged victim has yet to turn her accusations into charges.
So somewhere in the mix, GM Reggie McKenzie must have been made to feel comfortable. If Conley is indeed innocent of these accusations and stays free, he’s going to be a shutdown CB. There are many that believe the Conley is a better CB than Lattimore
Either way, the Raiders got a good player and an absolute steal at No. 24 overall. Already with an explosive offense, the team came into this draft needing to upgrade their defense. They did so in a major way as he is an upgrade over the Raiders’ current CBs.
And I believe Sean Smith and David Amerson are going to come back well this year too.
Conley is just that good!