NFL Draft: Josh Conerly Jr. of Rainier Beach picked in 1st round

Offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. was a potential target for the hometown Seattle Seahawks, but he's instead going across the country as a first-round NFL Draft pick.

BY SEATTLESPORTS.COM STAFF

Apr 24, 2025, 8:58 PM

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Josh Conerly Jr. of the Oregon Ducks during a 2024 game. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

(Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. was a potential target for the hometown Seattle Seahawks, but he’s instead going across the country as a first-round NFL Draft pick.

The Rainier Beach High School product was taken 29th overall out of Oregon by the Washington Commanders on Thursday night.

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Conerly played in all 41 games in three seasons at Oregon, including the past two as the starting left tackle. He was a third-team All-America and first-team All-Big-Ten pick for the 2024 season.

Big man TD!!@joshuaconerlyjr becomes just the second Oregon O-lineman since 1996 to catch a touchdown pass!

📺 https://t.co/nctuQQF320 #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/39lAJVDJzr

— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) November 5, 2022

Conerly was the subject of one of Brock Huard’s Seahawks draft profiles on Seattle Sports earlier this month, highlighting the former five-star prospect who is still all of just 21 years old.

“There’s still upside. He’s been coached well down at Oregon,” said Huard, a longtime college football analyst and former NFL quarterback. “He’s had some good people there, but he is young. … What is he gonna be at 25, 27 when he fully grows into that frame that much more? You can just talk about a people-moving difference-maker.”

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Conerly is 6 foot 5 and 311 pounds, with 33 1/2-inch arms and 10 3/8-inch hands. Huard compared him to former Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl lineman Duane Brown.

“(When) Duane Brown runs out of that tunnel, you’re like, oh, look at that fluid athlete. Look at that proportional guy. That looks like a linebacker. That’s Josh Conerly (too),” Huard said.

On Seattle Sports’ live NFL Draft coverage from Seahawks headquarters in Renton, former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus recalled being on an sideline opposite from Conerly.

“I had to coach against this kid,” Bumpus said. “He played D-line and O-line, and we’re trying to run the football, we’re trying to throw the football. My head coach is in my ears, ‘What can we do?’ I said, ‘Nothing. Because that kid is going to play in the NFL one day.'”