| No. 21 – Oakland Raiders | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Cornerback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | June 29, 1995 Massillon, Ohio | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Massillon Washington (Massillon, Ohio) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Ohio State | ||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2017 / Round: 1 / Pick: 24 | ||||||||||||
Career history
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2018 | |||||||||||||
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Gareon Conley (born June 29, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, and was drafted by the Raiders in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Early years[]
Conley attended Massillon Washington High School in Massillon, Ohio, where he played high school football. On defense, he was a cornerback, and on offense, he was a wide receiver.[1] As a senior, he had 25 tackles and an interception on defense and 50 receptions and 16 touchdowns on offense. Conley originally committed to the University of Michigan to play college football but later changed his choice to Ohio State University.[2][3]
College career[]
After redshirting his first year at Ohio State in 2013, Conley played in all 15 games as a redshirt freshman in 2014, recording 16 tackles. He became a starter his sophomore year in 2015, starting all 13 games and finishing with 49 tackles and two interceptions.[4][5] On November 29, 2016, Conley was named Second Team All-Big Ten by the Coaches and Third Team by the media.[6] After the 2016 season, Conley decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2017 NFL Draft.[7]
Professional career[]
Conley received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed all the combine and positional drills. He also participated at Ohio State's Pro Day, but chose to only perform positional drills for representatives and scouts in attendance. NFL Draft experts and analysts projected Conley to be selected in the first round.[8] He was ranked the second best cornerback, behind Ohio State teammate Marshon Lattimore, by NFLDraftScout.com, ESPN, and NFL analyst Mike Mayock. He was also ranked the fourth best cornerback by Sports Illustrated.[9][10][11]
Just days prior to the 2017 NFL Draft, a woman accused Conley of rape, claiming it had occurred earlier in the month in a hotel room in Cleveland.[12][13] Conley, in a statement, strongly denied the allegations.[14][15] It was speculated he may fall out of the first round of the draft due to the sexual assault claims.[16][17] A grand jury ruled not to charge Conley on July 31, 2017.[18]
| Ht | Wt | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0 in | 195 lb | 4.44 s | 1.56 s | 2.58 s | 4.18 s | 6.68 s | 37 in | 10 ft 9 in | 11 rep |
2017[]
The Oakland Raiders selected Conley in the first round (24th overall) of the draft. The Raiders conducted their own investigation and administered a polygraph test to Conley. They chose to select him after he passed the polygraph test.[20] On July 28, 2017, Conley signed a four-year deal worth $10.467 million featuring a $5.752 million signing bonus.[21] He missed the season opener against the Titans due to a shin injury but returned in Weeks 2 and 3 before aggravating the shin injury. He was inactive for the next six games before eventually being placed on injured reserve on November 13, 2017.[22]
2018[]
In Week 4 of the 2018 season, against the Cleveland Browns, Conley recorded a 36-yard pick-six off of Baker Mayfield for his first professional touchdown.[23] In week 11 against the Arizona Cardinals, Conley intercepted Josh Rosen's first pass of the game. The Raiders eventually won 23-21. [24] In week 15 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Conley suffered a concussion in the third quarter and was forced to miss the rest of the game as well as the following week's game against the Denver Broncos. [25] In the beginning of the season, Conley struggled in coverage and was a liability when tackling. He was eventually benched, but made vast improvements when he returned to the starting lineup. [26] During the second half of the season, Conley established himself as a shutdown corner back. He held Tyreek Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs to 1 catch for 13 yards in week 13 and held Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers to 5 catches for 35 yards the following week. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden stated that "He’s a lot more confident now." and former Raiders corner back Lester Hayes said “That boy can play.” [27] Conley finished the season with 37 tackles, 15 passes defended, and 3 interceptions, including 1 pick six. He received an overall grade of 64.0 from Pro Football Focus in 2018, which ranked as the 68th highest grade among all qualifying corner backs.[28]
References[]
- ↑ Bournival, Brad (October 16, 2012). "Mr. Everything". ESPN. http://www.espn.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/8519856/espn-150-michigan-commit-gareon-conley-gets-armour-game-jersey.
- ↑ Bournival, Brad (November 21, 2016). "Ohio State football: Once a Michigan commit, Gareon Conley now a captain for Buckeyes". Beacon Journal. http://www.ohio.com/sports/osu/ohio-state-football-once-a-michigan-commit-gareon-conley-now-a-captain-for-buckeyes-1.728776.
- ↑ Bournival, Brad (December 7, 2016). "Gareon Conley commits to Ohio State". espn. http://www.espn.com/blog/colleges/osu/post/_/id/5814/gareon-conley-commits-to-ohio-state.
- ↑ Rabinowitz, Bill (October 6, 2016). "Ohio State’s Gareon Conley prefers the background when not starring on the field". https://www.timesreporter.com/sports/20161006/gameday--ohio-states-gareon-conley-prefers-background-when-not-starring-on-field. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ↑ Florjancic, Matthew (September 30, 2016). "Last man standing! Gareon Conley aims to be Ohio State's leader in secondary". WKYC. http://www.wkyc.com/sports/last-man-standing-gareon-conley-aims-to-be-ohio-states-leader-in-secondary/313265863.
- ↑ "2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners". www.grfx.cstv.com. Big Ten Conference. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/FBTuesAllB1G.pdf. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ↑ Lesmerises, Doug (January 12, 2017). "Marshon Lattimore, Malik Hooker, Gareon Conley head to the NFL from Ohio State's greatest secondary". cleveland.com. http://www.cleveland.com/osu/2017/01/marshon_lattimore_malik_hooker.html.
- ↑ "*Gareon Conley, DS #2 CB, Ohio State".
- ↑ Burke, Chris (April 24, 2017). "2017 NFL draft rankings: Top prospects by position". https://www.si.com/2017-nfl-draft-position-rankings.
- ↑ "Ranking the 2017 draft's Top 100 prospects".
- ↑ Mayock, Mike (April 12, 2017). "Mike Mayock's 2017 NFL Draft position rankings 3.0".
- ↑ Becker, Jake (April 25, 2017). "Gareon Conley, Ohio State corner and projected first-round NFL draft pick, accused of rape in Cleveland". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/gareon-conley-projected-first-round-pick-accused-rape-article-1.3099457.
- ↑ DaSilva, Cameron (April 26, 2017). "NFL Draft prospect Gareon Conley reportedly accused of rape". FoxSports.com. http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/nfl-draft-prospect-gareon-conley-reportedly-accused-of-rape-042517.
- ↑ "Gareon Conley: Rape allegation 'not true'". espn. April 27, 2017. http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2017/story/_/id/19248984/gareon-conley-ohio-state-buckeyes-says-rape-accusation-untrue. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
- ↑ Schwab, Frank (April 25, 2017). "Ohio State CB Gareon Conley denies rape allegation, reportedly won't attend NFL draft". Yahoo.com. https://sports.yahoo.com/news/ohio-state-cb-gareon-conley-projected-first-round-pick-denies-rape-allegation-184159658.html.
- ↑ Robinson, Charles (April 27, 2017). "Expecting slide for CB Gareon Conley in NFL draft, teams press for details in sexual assault allegations". Yahoo.com. https://sports.yahoo.com/news/expecting-big-slide-cb-gareon-conley-nfl-draft-teams-press-details-sexual-assault-allegations-033712101.html.
- ↑ Kilgore, Adam (April 26, 2017). "NFL teams will judge Gareon Conley while police are still investigating". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2017/04/26/nfl-teams-will-judge-gareon-conley-while-police-are-still-investigating/.
- ↑ Knoblauch, Austin (July 31, 2017). "Raiders' Gareon Conley will not be charged in rape case". http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000823602/article/raiders-gareon-conley-will-not-be-charged-in-rape-case. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
- ↑ "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Gareon Conley". http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/gareon-conley?id=2558062. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
- ↑ "Raiders select CB Gareon Conley with 24th pick". NFL.com. April 27, 2017. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000803560/article/raiders-select-cb-gareon-conley-with-24th-pick. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
- ↑ "Gareon Conley agrees to rookie deal with Raiders". NFL. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000823070/article/gareon-conley-agrees-to-rookie-deal-with-raiders. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
- ↑ Williams, Charean (November 13, 2017). "Raiders place Gareon Conley on IR". http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/11/13/raiders-place-gareon-conley-on-ir/.
- ↑ "WATCH: Raiders CB Gareon Conley's records his first Pick-6". USA Today. September 30, 2018. https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/30/watch-raiders-cb-gareon-conleys-records-his-first-pick-6/.
- ↑ Zimmerman, Kevin (18 November 2018). "The 5: Explanations for the Cardinals’ blown opportunities vs. the Raiders". http://arizonasports.com/story/1741516/the-5-explanations-for-the-cardinals-blown-opportunities-vs-the-raiders/.
- ↑ Schneidman, Matt (16 December 2018). "Bengals 30, Raiders 16: Takeaways from another ugly loss". https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12/16/bengals-30-raiders-16-takeaways-from-another-ugly-loss/.
- ↑ Sanchez, Jose (23 January 2019). "Oakland Raiders 2018 season grades: CB Gareon Conley". https://justblogbaby.com/2019/01/23/oakland-raiders-2018-season-grades-cb-gareon-conley/.
- ↑ Gutierrez, Paul (11 December 2018). "Gareon Conley finally impressing and possibly answering Raiders' offseason needs". http://www.espn.com/blog/oakland-raiders/post/_/id/22514/gareon-conley-finally-impressing-and-possibly-answering-raiders-offseason-needs.
- ↑ "Pro Football Focus: Gareon Conley". https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/gareon-conley/11779.
External links[]
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