ALAMEDA. Calif. -- Need or best player available?
Gut or research?
“This was totally the board,” Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie said Thursday night in the wake of drafting Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley with the No. 24 overall selection in the 2017 NFL draft.
“I mean, [Conley] was, hands-down, the best player left on our board.”
The Raiders made the call in the wake of a rape allegation against Conley earlier this week, and despite the fact that players at positions of possibly greater need -- Alabama inside linebacker Reuben Foster and Michigan State defensive tackle Malik McDowell -- remained available.