Jet target accused of rape on draft eve

This has become as much a tradition in the lead-up to the NFL draft as Mel Kiper’s hairstyle being mocked: damning, off-the-field news breaking about a potential first-round pick.

The latest emerged Tuesday — two days before the first round of the draft — when TMZ reported Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley has been named in a police report by a woman who claims he raped her in a Cleveland hotel.

A police report filed in Cleveland, obtained by TMZ Sports, states a 23-year-old white female told police Conley sexually assaulted her in a hotel suite bathroom on April 9.

Conley — whom the Jets, who have the sixth pick, had in for a visit — had not been charged with a crime as of Tuesday afternoon and vehemently denied the allegations through his attorney. Kevin Spellacy called the allegations “ludicrous and ridiculous.”

“In my opinion, this young lady is an opportunist and it’s actually despicable,” the attorney said.

Conley, according to multiple reports, has decided not to attend the three-day draft in Philadelphia.

According to the police report, the accuser said she met Conley in a hotel elevator around 3 a.m. and he brought her back to his room, where she claimed Conley asked her to have a foursome with another friend of his and a woman. The accuser said she declined and offered to watch the other couple have sex in the hotel room bathroom instead.

The woman said Conley then unbuttoned her pants and began to have sex with her against her will.

The question now, with teams scrambling to obtain last-minute facts on the incident, is how it will affect where Conley is drafted. Most mock drafts have Conley going within the top 10 picks.

If he falls much lower than projected or even out of the first round, news of this incident and its timing could end up costing him millions of dollars.