Word heading into Sunday’s game against the Seahawks was that the Raiders would be replacing cornerback Gareon Conley in the starting lineup.
That turned out to be true as Daryl Worley got the start in London on Sunday. Conley’s fall went far beyond dropping out of the first team, however.
Conley didn’t play a single defensive snap in the 27-3 loss.
“Conley’s still a young guy,” head coach Jon Gruden said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “We’re going to reiterate that over and over. His career is just getting started.”
Given the Raiders’ record and the need to build a team, some would wonder why the Raiders would give snaps to Worley, Leon Hall or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie over their 2017 first-round pick. Sunday began with a report that the team’s shopping 2015 first-rounder Amari Cooper and 2016 first-rounder Karl Joseph, however, so Conley’s predicament isn’t an unusual one for players once thought to be a big part of the Raiders’ future.