Commanders’ first-round rookie faced a daunting task in his debut, and he passed the test on the most important part of the team
The rookie held his own against one of the best in the league.
The Washington Commanders leave Week 1 with a massive NFC East win against the New York Giants, and it took a full team effort on an offense that looked a little rusty.
There were a lot of eyes on the offensive line for the Commanders, and how well they would be able to handle, possibly, the toughest pass rush they will see all season. One player in particular had a magnifying glass on his performance as the first-round pick selected to protect the franchise quarterback, Jayden Daniels, and he went to war on Sunday.
Josh Conerly Jr. had everything but the kitchen sink thrown at him in his debut, and he passed the test and gained a lot of experience for what the NFL is going to look like.
Proving a point
Adam Peters invested a lot of draft capital in the offensive line this offseason, and everyone wanted to see if he made the right choice with the Commanders’ first-round pick this year. Conerly Jr. was known as a young, but athletic prospect who had a high ceiling. He has had a great summer and was even praised by veteran left tackle Laremy Tunsil as soon as he arrived, and the two worked together all offseason.
We needed to see how he looked in a real game, though, after looking the part in preseason, and for what he had to face on Sunday, I’d say he’s going to be just fine at right tackle. Conerly Jr. had to worry about Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux rotating over to his side, and he held his own against the gauntlet.
In his debut, Conerly Jr. only allowed one pressure and one sack against Brian Burns, who just attacked him from a really wide 9 alignment. Conerly Jr. played 100% of snaps on Sunday and had 41 pass pro snaps. I’d take those numbers any day for a rookie facing that pass rush.
Keeping your franchise quarterback protected is the number one job as an offensive lineman, but it’s not the only task, and he was even better in the run blocking as well. He showed his athleticism to move in space and his strength to seal off blocks.
Run game specialist
We saw in the preseason that Conerly Jr. loved to find somebody to hit in the run game, and he had a lot of big-time plays on Sunday with runs coming to his side of the line. The one that stood out the most was the nail in the coffin run by Bill Croskey-Merritt, who looked like he was going to the B gap, but saw that Conerly Jr. opened up the C gap for him, and he cut outside and got upfield for a big 42-yard gain.
It was just one game for Conerly Jr, but that was likely the toughest test he will face all season with the talent the Giants have on the defensive line, and you have to be excited with what you saw. He needed this experience because it doesn’t get any easier with better individual matchups coming up against Micah Parsons and Maxx Crosby in the next two weeks.