Oakland Raiders lose rookie Gareon Conley for rest of season

The Oakland Raiders are going to have to wait until 2018 to truly see what their first round investment in Gareon Conley can do on the field.

Heading into the 2017 season, the Oakland Raiders seemed like they’d completed their reconstruction of the secondary. In recent years they’d added plenty of rookies and veterans alike, including a couple high draft investments intended to anchor the unit for years to come. Unfortunately, the team’s pass defense remains a work in progress and first round pick Gareon Conley, a cornerback out of Ohio State, played in only 2 games before being shut down for the season.

NFL analyst Ian Rapoport says surgery is likely for Conley at this point in hopes that it will provide a permanent fix for the shin injury that has plagued Conley all season. The rookie appeared in two early games of the season, but failed to appear again on the season after Week 3. Conley was supposed to help anchor the secondary across from Sean Smith in tandem with David Amerson. Unfortunately, Smith has been benched, Amerson’s play has fallen and the Raiders are searching for more answers at the position.

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Amerson, Smith and T.J. Carrie remain the team’s primary options at the position moving forward, but the Raiders remain thin in terms of both impact talent and overall depth.

Conley had 26 tackles and 4 interceptions for the Buckeyes last season as a junior.