ASHBURN, Va. — Kliff Kingsbury walked by Adam Peters’ office earlier this week, and the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator dropped a piece of paper on his general manager’s desk.
It read: “I stopped by. Take Oregon tackle. Thnx! -Kliff.â€
It worked.
Peters held up the note with a big grin after selecting Oregon offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. late in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night.
“I think it was a pretty good note, to say the least,†Conerly said Friday at his introductory news conference. “It just really felt good to know that the person that’s going to be calling plays really had a really good belief in me before anything even started.â€
Peters said the decision to take Conerly with the 29th pick had support from the entire organization, starting with West Coast scout Paul Skansi and down to Kingsbury and coach Dan Quinn.
Conerly, a Seattle native who flew with several family members from the Pacific Northwest to northern Virginia, is drawing even more motivation from Kingsbury’s endorsement.
“It obviously makes me feel really great that you have people that believe in you,†Conerly said. “I feel like when you’ve got people that believe in you, you’ll do whatever for them.â€
Whatever might mean moving from the left side, where he started 14 games for the Ducks as a junior last season, earning first-team All-Big Ten and third-team AP All-America honors, to right tackle or even guard.
“He played a little right tackle in the Senior Bowl, and that’s not totally foreign to him and he’s practiced at it,†Peters said. “Whether it’s left guard, right guard, right tackle — I don’t think it’ll be center, although I do think he could play center if we needed him to. He’ll probably compete at those spots.â€
The starting left tackle job is taken after Washington acquired five-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil from Houston last month. Tunsil is one of the players Conerly has watched and tried to emulate, and they could bookend the all-important protection of franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels.
The outreach to Conerly from those guys has already begun.
“I actually got a FaceTime from Laremy Tunsil (on Thursday) night, and I missed it because of the celebrations right after,†Conerly said. “But I also got to talk to Jayden Daniels like (Friday afternoon), and that was pretty cool. It was nice to get to meet him.â€
Daniels and Conerly should get to know each other well as first-round picks a year apart. Asked what he thought he brings to the Commanders, Conerly said in part, “Someone that’s going to make sure their quarterback stays upright and opens up lanes for anybody else.â€
If he comes through on that, it will make Kingsbury look even smarter for his suggestion.
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