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Oakland Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley has had a rough start to his career. Fortunately, he has made a believer in head coach Jon Gruden.
Injury ravaged Conley's rookie campaign. However, according to ESPN's Paul Gutierrez, Gruden has been rather understanding of his struggles up to this point:
Article Continues Below“It's been a dark world that he's been in, this young man,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said of Conley during minicamp. “He's had a terrible injury he had to rehab from, he's had to change coaches, learn a new system, and it's been a slow and steady process.
“But, man, is he a good player. When he's feeling good, you can see why we picked him [in the first round].”
It is encouraging to see that Gruden is optimistic about Conley's future. There can sometimes be a sense of resentment between new head coaches and former first-round picks because they had no say in selecting them. It would be easy to assume the same can be said for this situation considering Conley's troubles on and off the field in his career. However, it is clear that Gruden is enamored with his potential.
There was plenty of turmoil surrounding Conley coming out of Ohio State due to some grim allegations. However, the Raiders had done their due diligence on him to be comfortable enough to risk such an investment. Unfortunately, his selection was soon followed by a shin injury that eventually limited him to 92 snaps in two games. Gruden's comments indicate that things could be finally looking up for Conley.
