NFL Draft

12/19/24

9 min read

2025 NFL Draft: Why Oregon Offensive Tackle Josh Conerly Jr. is Flying Up Draft Boards

By James Foster

NFL Analyst
Oregon Ducks offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. (76) blocks against Stanford Cardinal linebacker David Bailey (23) during the second quarter at Stanford Stadium.
Oregon Ducks offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. (76) blocks against Stanford Cardinal linebacker David Bailey (23) during the second quarter at Stanford Stadium. Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

As a former five-star recruit with top-tier athleticism, Oregon left tackle Josh Conerly Jr. entered 2024 with some first-round buzz, which quickly died out after a rough start to the season.

He wasn’t awful, to be clear, but he gave up three pressures and a sack in Oregon’s first two games against Idaho and Boise State. Since then, however, he’s been arguably the best tackle in college football, allowing just three pressures in his last 11 starts.

His matchup with Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter in the Big Ten Championship Game was one of the best individual performances from an offensive lineman this year:

Josh Conerly Jr. currently ranks 48th on the consensus board, but considering his physical traits and level of play in 2024, he should be a lock for the first round and a dark-horse candidate to be the first tackle selected.

Scouting Josh Conerly Jr.

ATHLETICISM

Conerly Jr. is listed at 6-foot-4, 304 pounds, and appears to have sufficient arm length to play tackle in the NFL. My eye test estimate would be 34-inches exactly.

He’s nimble, with athletic feet and plenty of pocket range to ride speed rushers up the arc. He’s also fluid when redirecting and mirroring inside counters from the top of his set. He is a bit undersized, but Conerly Jr. checks every box in terms of foot speed and movement skills to thrive on an island in pass protection.

Despite lacking ideal mass for the position, Conerly Jr.’s anchor has not been much of a problem this season. In fact, he hasn’t had a single clean loss to power all year. I don’t think he’s been thoroughly tested by any top-tier power rushers, so it remains a slight concern when projecting to the NFL, but he doesn’t look or play like a 304-pound tackle.

INSIDE COUNTERS

One of the key skills I look for when evaluating a tackle is the ability to defend a two-way go. An NFL tackle needs to have an explosive kick slide to urgently get depth in his pass set and protect the corner, but he also needs to have the slide quickness to reverse his track and mirror in the opposite direction. Deep pass sets mean wide B-gaps, and tackles must be able to recover and seal off moves to the inside.

Conerly Jr. undoubtedly has the movement skills to recover in space, but his technique has improved significantly after the first two games. He lost twice to inside counters in Week 1 against Idaho due to a late response with his feet and a soft recovery punch:

In the 12 games since, however, he’s only lost twice to inside moves. This rep against Abdul Carter is one of the most impressive individual efforts from a tackle this year. There’s no way to quantify this, but I don’t think there’s a single play from an offensive lineman in this class that has made that player more money:

Carter is one of the best B-gap rushers I’ve ever seen at the college level. His ability to threaten the outside shoulder and attack inside with a spin, swipe, or rip has completely overwhelmed every tackle that he’s faced, except Conerly Jr. That’s the level of athleticism that he’ll be tasked with blocking every week in the NFL. He’s put evidence on tape that he can handle it.

He starts this play with an explosive set to match Carter’s speed off the line of scrimmage. By reaching his set point quickly, he’s able to square up with Carter and center his balance by the time he can actually threaten a two-way go.

If Conerly Jr. had a slower kick slide, by the time he got to the top of his set, Carter would already be attacking the B-gap. Instead of shuffling inside from a standstill, he would have to work against his own momentum to redirect with the counter.

A key element to successfully blocking inside counters is having a strong inside catch hand. As Conerly Jr. takes a power step to close off the B-gap, he lands his right hand on Carter’s frame to assist his recovery and stall Carter’s momentum.

After Week 1, Conerly Jr. has consistently shown the ability to neutralize inside moves, and it’s gone from a concern to one of the primary strengths of his game.

HAND USAGE

Hand usage has been the biggest area of improvement for Conerly Jr. in the last 8-10 weeks, and he’s developed into one of the most technically advanced offensive linemen in this class. He has a varied punch strategy and is proficient at multiple techniques, which allows him to counter any style of rusher and keep them guessing.

Most college tackles are comfortable using one type of punch and aren’t skilled enough yet to change up their approach. Will Campbell almost exclusively uses a two-hand punch. At Oregon State, Taliese Fuaga lived and died with the outside-hand strike. Kelvin Banks Jr. likes to flash and retreat with his outside hand.

Having a single go-to technique is fine at the college level but can get exposed in the NFL if pass rushers know their opponent is only comfortable with one strategy.

Conerly Jr. has a deep bag of techniques at his disposal, which will make his adjustment to the NFL easier.

TWO-HAND PUNCH

The two-hand punch is an aggressive technique in which the blocker attempts to land a knock-out blow. By firing his hands inside the frame early in the play, he eliminates the rusher’s momentum before he can even get into a move. This gamble can backfire if the blocker is inaccurate with his hands, but when it hits, the rep is essentially over.

Here, Conerly Jr. anticipated the cross-chop and shot his hands inside, timing his punch so that it landed when the rusher’s frame was exposed. He had the strike power and grip strength to withstand the chop and keep his hands fastened, and then he set his anchor when the rusher transitioned to power:

In this play, he used another well-timed two-hand strike and absorbed the chop. The rusher transitioned into a long-arm, but Conerly Jr. exploited his forward lean and countered with a snatch-trap to put him on his face:

This is one of my favorite plays from Conerly Jr.’s tape, as it shows his ability to adjust and re-fit his hands throughout the rep.

Similar to the previous clip, he used a two-hand strike against a speed chop, but his punch was too wide and flimsy, and the rusher was able to swat down his outside hand. Instead of panicking and losing the corner, Conerly adjusts on the fly.

He replaces his hands inside the frame, retreats back into the pocket so the rusher can’t leverage underneath his pads, and then drops his anchor and locks out the rush:

The two-hand strike is also frequently paired with a jump set, which further counters the pass rusher’s acceleration off the line of scrimmage:

OUTSIDE-HAND PUNCH

Conerly Jr. also uses an outside-hand punch, where he stabs with his left hand but keeps his right hand free and activated to collect an inside move:

The flash technique builds off of the outside-hand punch and is the most effective strategy to counter cross-chops. The cross-chop is a cross-body strike to the blocker’s outside hand, and the flash technique is predicated on baiting out the move while protecting the blocker’s hand from getting swatted down.

On these reps against Penn State, Conerly Jr. flashes his left hand early in the play. The pass rusher sees the exposed outside hand and identifies an opportunity to defeat it with a cross-chop or swipe.

But as he initiates the move, Conerly Jr. retracts his hand, causing the move to land on air. On the downswing of the move, with the rusher’s frame unprotected, Conerly Jr. then lands his punch and gets depth to protect the corner:

STUNTS

He's also very alert in processing stunts and picking up nickel blitzes:

RUN BLOCKING

Conerly Jr. is an effective run blocker, and his athleticism makes him a fit for any offensive scheme.

He’s arguably the best puller in this class, as he explodes out of his stance and reaches his landmarks quickly, but he also has the body control to throttle down and connect to moving targets in space:

His upper-body strength allows him to widen the edge and pry open the B-gap on the front side of zone runs:

He’s also shown the ability to swivel his hips and secure backside cutoffs:

He explodes into contact and can displace defenders off the line of scrimmage:

At times, he will dip his head and lunge into contact, causing him to lose balance or fall through the block:

His target location and angles at the second level can also get a bit sloppy:

Tags: 2025 NFL Draft, Josh Conerly Jr., NFL Draft

James Foster

NFL Analyst

James Foster is an NFL writer who creates film-based analysis of NFL players and teams. He previously worked for A to Z Sports.

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