Brock on Seahawks Draft: A Seattle native with big O-line upside

It’s not often that the Seattle Seahawks have a chance to draft a Seattle native with their first-round pick, but that could be the case next Thursday.

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As the Seahawks enter another draft with clear needs on the offensive line, one of the best linemen thought to be available when the 18th overall selection is on the clock is Oregon’s Josh Conerly Jr., a graduate of Seattle’s Rainier Beach High School.

Conerly was the focus of college football analyst and former NFL quarterback Brock Huard‘s Seahawks Draft Profile on Tuesday during Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

Talent and athleticism

In a draft filled with players who spent four, five, six and in some cases even seven years playing at the college level, Conerly is on the opposite end as a three-year member of the Ducks who began playing as a true freshman. A former five-star high school prospect who was rated as Washington state’s top recruit and top-10 nationally for the class of 2022 by 247Sports, Conerly played in all 13 games as a true freshman and started all 28 games at left tackle during his sophomore and junior seasons.

He was a third-team AP All-American and first-team All-Big-Ten selection in 2024.

“They’re just equipped a little bit different,” Huard said of former five-star recruits like Conerly.

Conerly, who also played for Rainier Beach’s powerhouse basketball program in high school, was one of the more athletic offensive linemen at the NFL combine. His 1.71-second 10-yard split in the 40-yard dash was first among the position group and his 34 1/2-inch vertical jump was third. He ran the 40 in 5.05 seconds, which tied for 10th.

Elite athleticism. @joshuaconerlyjr’s 1.71 10-yard split leads all O-Linemen and his 34.50” vertical ranks third 👏#GoDucks x #NFLCombine pic.twitter.com/fhAEPL4e7H

— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) March 2, 2025

He also had ideal measurements with 33 1/2-inch arm length and 10 3/8-inch hands to go along with his 6-foot-5, 311-pound frame.

Huard compared Conerly’s combination of size and athleticism to former Seahawks left tackle and five-time Pro Bowler 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,” Huard said. “That’s Josh Conerly.”

Upside and fit

While at Oregon, Conerly played the one position on the line that the Seahawks seem to be set at with 2022 first-round pick Charles Cross manning left tackle. But Huard feels Conerly has physical gifts that are hard to pass up on and thinks that he could play other spots up front.

“I want athletes at the line of scrimmage,” Huard said. “We have had too many plug-and-play (guys). God bless Christian Haynes, God bless (Sataoa) Laumea, those guys are doing all they can with the genetics they’ve been given. They don’t have these genetics. They don’t have this build.”

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

Huard said he keeps coming back to a comment made by NFL Network insider and former scout Daniel Jeremiah made during a recent conversation on the show, which is that NFL offensive line coaches would love to have five tackles on the line.

“I want that,” Huard said. “And in this scheme (under Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak) where you’re gonna run, in this scheme where you’re gonna play (action) pass, in this scheme where you’re gonna screen, in this scheme where you’re gonna boot and waggle, in this scheme, I want a premium on athletes at the line of scrimmage. And Josh Conerly checks every box.”

Huard feels Conerly still has a lot of room grow in the NFL, too.

“There’s still upside. He’s been coached well down at Oregon. … He’s had some good people there, but he is young,” Huard said. “He is all of that at 21 years of age. 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.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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