On Monday, the Houston Texans traded a third-round selection to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for cornerback Gareon Conley.
The No. 24 overall pick in 2017, Conley comes to the Texans with size (6-0, 195), speed (4.44-second 40-yard-dash), athleticism (6.88-second three-cone-drill, 37-inch vertical, 129-inch broad jump) and an Ohio State pedigree, a school otherwise known as “DBU.”
So why did the Texans trade for him? Let’s take a gander at his strengths to see why then his weaknesses to understand why Oakland parted ways.
The highs
The Texans play a lot of man coverage; specifically, they are fourth in the league at the rate in which they play it, per Pro Football Focus’ Austin Gayle. That is music to Conley’s ears; he is a man-to-man cover corner, always has been and will be in Houston.
Watch below: Conley defends a stop-n-go route from Chiefs wide receiver Sammy Watkins. He is all over this route. Not only is he able to run with him, but he also walls off Watkins’ attempted leverage play: the stop. He does all of that after motioning onto him.
Conley does his best work on vertical routes. Watch him mirror Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs below. He uses the sideline as his best friend, stays in touch with his long arms and ultimately makes it to where Kirk Cousins wouldn’t throw to Diggs if he had to.
What Conley does best is play press-man coverage. He’s big (6-0, 195), has length (33-inch arms) and has speed (4.44-second 40-yard-dash). When asked what he likes about press coverage on Thursday, he responded with, “that’s all I do.”
Watch Conley shut-down a deep comeback from Colts wide receiver Parris Campbell above. Notice the use of his arms nears the sideline. He knows how to use his length.
Watch above as lines up face-to-face with Antonio Brown. He shifts to his side rather than backward, then interrupted the in-breaking stem with his arms and made a legal play on the ball.
Below, Conley is against his newest teammate, Kenny Stills (in Miami). Watch as he combats Stills’ speed by playing the sideline then flips his hips to a side-peddle off the press and plays an underthrown — but catchable — pass well.
Conley is explosive to the ball. He has a knack for making a play on it and will use his high-grade athleticism and length to make that known. For example, watch him burst to the ball on a speed-out intended for Steelers wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster.
Conley shifts his feet laterally to mirror the route. When the ball is thrown, he is in a perfect position to burst onto and contest it; he does just that and forces a turnover on downs.
Conley’s athleticism and want to get to the ball will result in interceptions. It will also result in stopped plays. For instance, Joe Flacco gets a completion to Courtland Sutton below. Watch Conley and how he recognizes the play to shut it down for a five-yard gain.
In all, Conley is a prototypical outside cornerback. His strengths will help the Texans contain speed. Down the line, he could be their No. 1 corner. As for his weaknesses…
The lows
Conley sustained injuries throughout his Raiders career. He suffered a shin injury that placed him on injured reserve in his rookie year, both a foot and concussion injury late in 2018 and a scary neck injury that did not sideline him in any games in 2019. In total, he has missed 15 games.
His weaknesses — outside of injuries — include his struggles to tackle, stumbling tendencies and playing the innards of the field. Luckily (or not), he showed a lot of that against Green Bay Packers last Sunday, when Aaron Rodgers and Co. torched him and the Raiders defense. Conley was the scapegoat.
The Packers caught Conley stumbling badly twice on Sunday. Watch Green Bay isolate him one-on-one with Marquez Valdes-Scantling below. The Raiders disguise Cover 1, don’t play it and, in turn, give Conley no safety help as he backs up to make up for it.
Valdes-Scantling runs a speed out, Conley stumbles on the break-out and then whiffs on a tackle. 74-yard touchdown to Green Bay.
Again, stumbling problems. Watch as Jake Kumerow runs a triple-move on Conley above. While his pass-rush doesn’t help “defend” the long-developing route, Conley stumbles. He doesn’t have safety help, which puts him on an island — one where he is exposed.
Conley’s stumbling issues are new. In 2018 — a promising season, by all means — they weren’t there. His balance must be improved.
Conley has noted struggles in zone coverage. However, that may not be all that true. On the tape, he doesn’t seem to have a problem diagnosing where the ball is, playing his zone or breaking on routes. But, his tackling and recent development of imbalance culminate in a player that shows inabilities in zone coverage.
To be clear, that doesn’t mean he is an elite zone corner. He has an understanding of coverage dating back to his Buckeye days, but he gets exposed there due to his tackling, over-aggression and recent stumbling tendencies. Perhaps he is looking to play the quarterback, and subsequently, the ball too much. Nonetheless, zone didn’t do him well in Oakland.
Where Conley really struggles is in-breaking routes. He can’t cover horizontally as well as covering vertically is more his niche. That likely stems from his hand usage, as he often struggles to displace receivers running horizontal stems.
Watch above, as Travis Kelce gets a 15-yard gain on Conley.
Again, Conley gives up leverage on an in-breaking route. Though, he was not targeted on the play.
In culmination, Conley isn’t the Texans corner of old. His weaknesses are what a guy like Kareem Jackson thrives in — tackling, playing horizontally or in the slot, and, with that combined, playing in a Cover 2 scheme. Luckily, the Texans aren’t a Cover 2 or zone team.
