Raiders news: Jon Gruden plans to build secondary around Gareon Conley
Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden says he plans to build the team's secondary around second-year cornerback Gareon Conley.
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Maximo Gonzales is a writer for ClutchPoints. More about Maximo Gonzales
Tags: Jon Gruden, Las Vegas Raiders
It goes without saying that Oakland Raiders' cornerback Gareon Conley has had a rough start to his career. Fortunately, head coach Jon Gruden still has big plans for him in the 2018 NFL season.
Ever since his arrival, Gruden has raved about Conley's potential as a shutdown corner. According to Tyler Green of Silver and Black Pride, he even went so far as to say Oakland will build its secondary around the young corner:
While Gruden's comments may be a bit bold, they certainly are not surprising. The Raiders had taken Conley with the 24th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
The tumultuous start to his career got worse when he missed the season opener with a shin injury. Unfortunately, the issue would continue to linger and his rookie campaign was ultimately cut short when the Raiders placed him on injured reserve midway through the season.
It goes without saying that Oakland has had some issues with their secondary for quite some time now. However, it appears the team is confident that they have finally found a solid piece to build this group around. If Conley can show signs of becoming a lockdown defender, it will pay huge dividends for their team's potential turnaround this season.