Oakland Raiders: 5 Over-under predictions for the 2019 season

Gareon Conley: 3 Interceptions

To outsiders who don’t watch Raiders games often, this sounds like a sizzling hot take, but cornerback Gareon Conley is the team’s best defender. He didn’t garner a lot of recognition during Oakland’s disastrous 2018 campaign, but the Ohio State product earned the right to call his coverage area Coney Island.

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), quarterbacks targeted him 50 times and completed just 27 passes for 369 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions — that’s nearly a 50-50 chance of a completion.

Don’t forget Conley came into the league with a high draft pedigree — the 24th overall pick in the 2017 draft. He missed 14 games because of a shin injury as a rookie and bounced back for a strong sophomore campaign, recording three interceptions and 15 pass breakups.

Despite Conley’s solid numbers, the coaching staff benched him for Week 6 against the Seattle Seahawks in London last season; he also struggled with open-field tackling but maintained his tight coverage throughout the season.

The Raiders have depth at cornerback with five-year veteran Nevin Lawson along with rookies Trayvon Mullen and Isaiah Johnson joining the squad, but none of the newcomers or roster holdovers can match Conley in coverage. He belongs on the field at all times. If that’s the case, the 24-year old can snag four picks and earn a Pro Bowl invite.

Over or Under? Over