Josh Conerly Jr. looks bigger entering his second season with the Washington Commanders, and that's a good thing for a player in his position.
"Sitting on a bull rush is a little bit easier," Conerly said with a smile. "So, yeah, that's cool."
The Commanders knew Conerly -- a 21-year-old offensive lineman from Oregon -- was going to be a project when they took him with the 29th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He had the tools -- his footwork, quickness and intelligence made him one of the best pass protectors in his class -- to potentially become an above-average starter, but it would take time for him to develop into that. They drafted him believing that he still had room to grow, which made his college resume even more impressive.
Conerly is still far from reaching his ceiling, but he's gotten closer to it with a full NFL offseason under him. He's stronger and more comfortable compared to his rookie year, and there's more optimism for what he can do as part of the Commanders' offensive line.
"Just finding ways to make it as comfortable as possible," Conerly said. "So, once I stepped out there, I just felt a lot more confident, and I'm just able to be free."
Conerly has had a busy offseason, even before he reported to the Commanders' facility two months ago for their workout program. Once the 2025 season had concluded, he went back to Oregon to work with his strength coaches and personal chef. He then went to Alabama to work with fellow offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil, who spends most of his summers with his personal trainer.
Conerly said the results have been "great," but the former first-round pick doesn't need to point out the changes he has made to his body. His face is a little bit thinner, and his arms have more definition to them. That was a personal goal for Conerly after his rookie year; he said he ended the 2025 campaign around 318 pounds, which he described as being "pretty fat." His current weight is around the same as it was at the start of his rookie season, but he replaced the body fat with muscle.
"Dieting, eating a lot cleaner, eating a little less," Conerly said. "Once we got back out here, I feel like you just add more and more."
Conerly's comfort level on the field is also apparent as he's gone through 11-on-11 drills in the OTA practices open to media members. That is at least partially credited to how much experience he got as a rookie. He was the only Commanders offensive starter to play 100% of the snaps in 2025, and his gauntlet of opponents included some of the most athletic pass rushers in the league like Maxx Crosby, Micah Parsons and Abdul Carter.
Conerly had an uneven start to last season, which is to be expected when a 21-year-old rookie is thrown against experienced veterans who also happen to be at the top of their positions. As the season wore on, though, Conerly's play improved to the point where he was living up to his reputation of being a first-rounder. He only allowed two sacks after Week 8 and had seven games with a pass blocking grade of at least 65 in that stint. He also cut down his penalties, going from eight in Weeks 1-8 to five for the rest of the season.
"I thought he's gained a lot of experience," head coach Dan Quinn said of Conerly during the 2025 season. "He's been a better run blocker than I thought. Even coming out of Oregon, I knew he'd have the athleticism to pass protect, because he could change direction."
Conerly is anxious to show off the improvements he has made in the previous months, but he's focused on more than his physique. He's dedicating time to fine-tuning his stance so that he can get more comfortable at the line of scrimmage.
"I feel a lot more comfortable in my position, and I feel like just as I continue to stack days," Conerly said. "I feel like I'm getting better and better."
His other task has been learning the Commanders' new offense, which he said is coming along well. There are several new concepts and wrinkles, such as receiving play calls in the huddle and having the quarterback line up under center. Those additions aren't completely foreign to Conerly, but it has been a while since he's run an offense that had those features. If he had to guess, the last time was during his little league years.
But there are some aspects of the offense that have made things easier for him and his teammates. Some of the verbiage from Washington's previous system has been adopted into new offensive coordinator David Blough's scheme. The communication has been cleaner as well, he said, which is to be expected with the transition to calling plays from the huddle.
What's been most helpful is that the new system is molded to match Conerly and his teammates' skill sets.
"I feel like with us being such an athletic offensive line, and I feel like that's definitely how he [Blough] caters to us, getting us moving side to side," Conerly said. "Really just allowing us to go out there and just be the athletes that we are."
And Conerly already had a good idea of what Blough was like as a coach prior to him becoming the offensive coordinator. They sat next to each other in meetings last year, and they developed a close relationship during that time. Based on what he's heard and seen from Blough during their time together, there's reason to be excited about him leading the unit.
"I feel like we're a lot more interactive, I'll say that," Conerly said. "I feel like me...and the guys, we're in a really great space right now. We're just gonna continue to just elevate."
