Cowboys Could Be Team To Watch For Ohio State CB Gareon Conley

Tom Pelissero reports that one team to watch for Ohio State CB Gareon Conley tonight is the Cowboys, who have an obvious need at cornerback, hosted him for a visit and even spoke to him on Wednesday.

• Derrick Gunn reports that the Eagles and other NFL teams have done their homework on Conley and feel he’s innocent. Gunn believes the rape allegations shouldn’t affect Conley’s draft status.
• Jason La Canfora admits that he could be in the minority on this, but he’s more convinced now that Conley will be selected in the first round after making more phone calls to sources.
• Adam Schefter reports that Conley has spoken to at least 24 teams over the past 48 hours and had proclaimed his innocence to all of them.
• According to Ian Rapoport, teams believe Conley will be drafted, despite the rape allegations against him and three GMs have predicted he’ll come off of the board in round three.
• Rapoport adds that the teams doing work on Conley have been in touch with his criminal attorney, who has all the witness statements and videos.
• While some believe he could be a third-round pick when all is said and done, Lance Zierlein has spoken to several teams who told him that, barring complete clearance from police before the draft, Conley would be selected.

According to a police report, Conley violated the woman in a hotel suite bathroom at a Westin hotel in Cleveland back on April 9.

The woman says that she met Conley in an elevator and he asked her to have a foursome with another friend of his, but she declined and instead offered to watch instead.

According to the report, Conley unbuttoned her pants and began to have sex with her while she told him to stop. The woman later called 911 and described the assailant as a “black male who wouldn’t take his sunglasses off and had an Ohio State tattoo on his left forearm.”

From there, she went to a local hospital where a rape kit was administered.

Conley and two of his friends were interviewed by police and told them that nothing happened between Conley and the accuser. They added that the woman was mad that she was kicked out of the room.

Conley’s attorney has denied the allegations and referred to them as “ludicrous and ridiculous.”

Cleveland police are still investigating the matter and no arrests or charges have been filed up to this point.

Conley is considered to be one of the top defensive prospects in this year’s draft and has been rising up draft boards in recent weeks. There has been talk that he could end up being selected in the first half of round one, but this situation could very well lead to a draft fall much like La’el Collins a few years ago, depending on how things play out in the coming days.

During his college career at Ohio State, Conley recorded 91 tackles, a half sack, six interceptions, and 15 pass defenses over the course of 35 games.

We’ll have more regarding this situation as the news is available.