The Ravens took Alabama's Marlon Humphrey with their first-round NFL draft pick Thursday night, but they reportedly did their due diligence on another cornerback with similar talent but greater baggage.
Ohio State's Gareon Conley, who was taken No. 24 overall by the Oakland Raiders days after being named a suspect in a sexual-assault investigation, took a polygraph test at the request of the Ravens, according to several reports.
According to USA Today, Conley drove from Columbus, Ohio, to Akron to take the test shortly before the draft began. The Ravens ended up taking Humphrey at No. 16 overall.
Conley was regarded as a sure-thing first-rounder until early April, when a 23-year-old woman claimed that Conley sexually assaulted her in his Cleveland hotel room, according to a police report. Conley has called the allegations "completely false," and NFL teams received an email Thursday from attorney William D. Evans, who said he conducted Conley's polygraph examination and that "it is my opinion he did not commit the sexual assault as alleged."
Said Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie: "We did our due diligence throughout this whole process and we trust our research, reports, everything we have on Mr. Conley, and we feel really good about picking Gareon Conley and having him join the Raider team and having him be a great teammate for our players."
The Ravens have not signed or drafted a player with a record of domestic violence since Ray Rice was cut in 2014 after TMZ released a video showing him hitting his future wife in an Atlantic City, N.J., casino elevator. General manager Ozzie Newsome, who is set to speak to reporters Saturday, said in January that the Ravens are "not afraid" of adding a player who has other "character issues."
"When we do take someone, it's upon all of us to make sure that that guy is doing everything he needs to do to change his life," he said.