Josh Conerly Jr., Oregon: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Conerly was a five-star recruit from Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, Wash. in the class of 2022

We covered Ajani Cornelius yesterday. Now it’s time for the other Oregon tackle. Josh Conerly Jr. still needs to upgrade his play strength and iron out some obvious mistakes, but he has excellent athletic ability and impressive hand usage. Conerly projects as a top 50 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Visit my Twitter account @Sam_Teets33 for more opinions on prospects, clips, and the latest football content.

Josh Conerly Jr., LT Oregon: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Junior left tackle from Seattle, Wash.

Background: Conerly was a five-star recruit from Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, Wash. in the class of 2022. He was the No. 16 recruit according to 247Sports, No. 31 for Rivals, and No. 38 (four-star) for On3.com. ESPN ranked him 31st (four-star) in the nation with an 87 grade out of 100. Conerly lettered four times in high school. He was a MaxPreps Second Team All-American as a senior and was the ScorebookLive Washington Offensive Lineman of the Year. Conerly also received First Team All-State honors. He earned an All-3A Metro League selection as a junior. Conerly, who played running back as a freshman, transitioned to the offensive line as a sophomore. He also has some experience operating on the defensive side of the ball. Conerly received invitations to the All-American Bowl and Polynesian Bowl and was a finalist for the Anthony Munoz Lineman of the Year, which goes to the top lineman in each high school class. Conerly also played basketball in high school.

Injuries & Off-Field: N/A

Awards: 2023 Honorable Mention All-Pac-12

Pros: Room to add mass to lower frame, explosive kick step in pass pro, nimble and quick feet, range to carry pass rushers up and around the pocket, agility to redirect and cut off delayed rushers, maintains knee bend in pass pro, keeps himself square and well-framed to the rusher, maintains wide base into contact, tight and accurate hand placement on punches, appears to have large hands, quick and sudden clamp, quickly replaces and refits hands, lightning-fast strikes disorient defenders, powerful upper body helps neutralize long-arm moves, improved from first to second matchup vs. Bralen Trice (2023), quick to redirect for secondary targets in the run game, mobility to climb and execute combo blocks, more than mobile enough to lead block

Cons: Committed eight penalties in 2023, arm length is acceptable but not great, occasional lapse of awareness leads to missed assignment in pass pro, feet occasionally stall in pass pro, concentration on lower body movement and mechanics wavers in pass pro, could take better angles in vertical pass sets to protect his outside shoulder especially at the top of the arc, needs to show more urgency protecting the outside track, Connor O'Toole gave him issues up the arc (2023), overestimates his athleticism leading to risky decisions in pass pro, hands lack pop, initial strike timing is inconsistent, still learning to re-anchor vs. speed to power, inconsistent combating and anchoring vs. power, can be overaggressive and not balanced when his momentum is shifting forward, forward momentum and not established clamp lead to him falling off blocks in the run game, inconsistent staying attached in the run game

Overview: Conerly is still filling out his frame, and he has the room to continue adding mass. He has an explosive kick step in pass protection and nimble and quick feet. The junior’s foot speed gives him the range to carry pass rushers up and around the pocket. His light feet and agility help with redirecting to cut off delayed rushers or B-gap counters. Conerly is a loose and natural athlete who maintains good posture and knee bend in pass protection. He stays square to the rusher, which helps him frame blocks effectively. Conerly maintains a wide base into contact but is still learning to re-anchor against power rushes. His hand placement and usage are very promising. The Washington native deploys tight and accurate punches. He has a sudden clamp, and his large hands allow him to impact a wide range on the defender’s frame. Conerly quickly replaces and refits his hands when they fall off. His lightning-fast strikes disorient defenders, but his grip strength and punch power still need some work. There’s room for him to increase his play strength and become a more physically dominant player. That said, his thick upper body already helps to neutralize long-arm moves. Conerly’s arm length is acceptable but not great. An official measurement will clarify where he stands. He’s also a little shorter and leaner than most high-end tackle prospects. His inexperience showed up several times in 2023 when lapses in awareness led to him missing assignments in pass protection. The All-Pac-12 honorable mention’s feet occasionally stall in pass protection. This impacts him significantly at the top of the arc. The combination of his footwork and poor angles allows defenders to win around the edge and flatten their rush angles to the quarterback. This is frustrating because Conerly has the range and agility to eliminate these bad reps. There are also plays where he gambles on his athleticism by trying to block two defenders, but he doesn’t always have the recovery speed to reach the second block. This appears to be a product of poor decision making instead of difficult schemed assignments. Conerly’s hands have the potential to be real weapons, but they lack pop and have inconsistent strike timing. He has plenty of room to improve how he addresses power rushes. The former four-star recruit is inconsistent breaking long-arm moves and anchoring against speed to power. He needs more power in his base. To Conerly’s credit, he improved from his first to his second matchup against Washington’s Bralen Trice (2023). In the run game, Conerly has the mobility to climb and execute combo blocks, pull for gap runs, or lead block on plays wide of the tackle box. He has the twitch to suddenly redirect and pick off crashing run defenders. Unfortunately, Conerly is inconsistent at staying attached to blocks in the run game because of his grip strength and forward momentum.

Overall, Conerly is an excellent athlete with impressive hand usage for a one-year starter, but his inexperience and developmental play strength lead to some poor decisions and head-scratching reps. Even a minor step forward in 2024 should lock down a top 60 pick for Conerly, but a leap would bump him into the first round.

Role & Scheme Fit: Left tackle in an outside zone or gap scheme

Round Projection: Late First to Early Second Round

Size: 6'4", 305 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 05-02-24