Day 1 of the 2017 NFL Draft is off the books and the hottest draft prospects have been selected. The Raiders made their first round choice and selected Gareon Conley out of Ohio State. Now, this was quite a surprise pick by Reggie McKenzie. Although, a lot of mock drafts had the Raiders going after a corner at #24 overall. From what I heard, the overall consensus was that Tre'Davious White out of LSU was going to be the pick. I personally thought that Raiders should've gotten a linebacker that could be their long-term defensive signal caller like a Zach Cunningham out of Vanderbuilt. But regardless, their first round pick needed to be an unequivocal prospect on defense.
Back to this surprise selection by Reggie McKenzie, coming into this draft, Conley had red flags written all over him. Most notably, Conley is under investigation of sexual assault and he might not play a down pending a DNA test that may or may not subject him to lengthy jail time. Based on the draft profile from NFL.com, Conley was graded a bit higher than Tre'Davious White. Although, 0.01 difference, so what? Conley is a size-length corner that can play man press or off. Keep in mind, the Raiders value these kinds of corners and on the plus side, Conley has range to be a playmaking corner because of his athleticism. I'd say consistency is going to be key for Conley. Based on this breakdown, there are times where he doesn't jam his receiver, allowing the receiver a little bit of separation to make a play. So, definitely his play as an off corner needs work, but he's a lot better as a press corner. He has some shutdown potential; he allowed a 37% completion rate in Ohio State according to his draft profile. He draws some comparisons to Aqib Talib, which is encouraging. Ultimately, this is a high risk, high reward for the Raiders. The upside and potential is there. However, red flags are overshadowing this promising talent. I'm sure Big Reg (Reggie McKenzie) and Captain Jack (Jack Del Rio) consulted with Mark Davis about this kid and they did their due diligence before they drafted him. Welcome to the Raider Nation, Gareon Conley! Let's hope you're better than the last cornerback who the Raiders drafted in the first round. *Cough.* D.J. Hayden! *Cough.*
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