Oakland Raiders: Gareon Conley expected to see increase in snaps

Gareon Conley is going to get more playing time the rest of the way, as the Oakland Raiders see what they have in their young cornerback.

The Oakland Raiders coaching staff may finally be righting a wrong as defensive coordinator Paul Guenther stated in today’s presser that cornerback Gareon Conley is going to see an increase in playing time. “Conley is a guy that’s gonna play a lot for us here in this stretch.” During the first four games of the season, Conley was being handed the bulk of the defensive snaps at corner. It was only until he had some lapses in coverage did his playing time take a substantial hit.

The last two games, Conley was reduced to only 13 defensive snaps. He only saw the field against the Seattle Seahawks as special teams player. So what changed Guenther’s mind to start giving Conley’s snaps back? Simple.

The coaching staff finally acknowledges that they’re tanking the season away, so they finally realized that playing him will aid his development.

Before the bye, the Oakland Raiders coaching staff was actually in belief that this team could win some games to make a run. That’s why they were trotting out veterans like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Leon Hall. Guenther didn’t want any chance of someone having a mental breakdown in coverage like Conley has shown.

So in his mind, playing his veterans was the best bet to eliminate any big plays. It’s why Rashaan Melvin was also benched because he and Conley have given up the most big gain plays in coverage. It hasn’t solely been in on them because they’re supposed to have safety help on some of those plays, but that’s the gist of situation.

Now that the Amari Cooper trade pretty much makes a rebuild and tanking as clear as day, giving snaps to the younger players who actually have a stake in the future is the only route to go. It was a moronic decision anyways to decrease Conley’s playing time in the first place. Both Guenther and Jon Gruden commented on the decrease by saying “We need to see more of him.” Which is insanely contradictory of their actions.

How is a player supposed to correct their mistakes if they don’t give him the snaps to do so?

The staff has acknowledged that Gareon Conley is basically a rookie, so that means they should be aware he’s going to get beat. He’s going to have some lapses in his performance, it’s called growing pains. Let him learn and help him through the process. It’s what these coaches get paid the big bucks for. It doesn’t benefit a player to outright take his snaps away.

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If they were to hold him out a series and show him the error in his play, then that’s fine because they’re coaching him up. By keeping him off the field for essentially the whole game they run the risk of not only stunting his growth, but his confidence as well. It’s not like practice is going to dramatically improve like in game experience does.

Gruden himself has been critical of the lack of practice time he and his players get, yet he’s taking away snaps that will benefit him and Conley in the long run. It was all just an ego move to take him out in the first place.

They wanted to play their guys, which is why I think Conley will be traded by the deadline. Before that can take place, there is still a game to be played this Sunday when the Oakland Raiders host the Indianapolis Colts. Gareon Conley will have a tall task ahead of him with receiver T.Y. Hilton.

A great challenge for Conley to get his feet under him and potentially add a bit of value to his name for a trade.