Offensive line is one of the hardest positions to play early as a first-year player. The physical development is still a work in progress; no matter how strong the high school strength program is, it pales in comparison to high-level college football programs. And the mental piece is an adjustment. Players will tell you the jump from high school ball to college can be tougher than the jump from college to NFL.

But Josh Conerly Jr. is doing everything he can to play early. So far, he’s impressing the guy tasked with making him look like he shouldn’t.

“You can tell he’s really trying to play this year as a young guy,” said defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus. “It’s tough to play left tackle as a freshman — especially in the Pac-12.”

But Conerly is a different kind of youngster. A 5-star signee in the 2023 class, the 6-foot-4 tackle was a top-10 recruit in the Top247 and the top-ranked offensive tackle in the class. He’s listed at 294 pounds on Oregon’s online roster — about a 10-pound difference between his high school recruiting profile.

He’s put in quite a bit of work since getting to Eugene earlier this summer.

“Josh Conerly is a beast. He’s just a dog,” Dorlus said. “Usually when you come in as a freshman and you lose reps, you get in your head and you stop working and think ‘this is over.’ But with him, he’s lost plenty of reps but it’s crazy because he comes back and he’s worked on it. He has a great work mentality. I love going against him. Me and him go at it every day.”

Dorlus usually wins those one-on-ones, but that’s to be expected considering he has one of the highest ceiling of any defensive lineman in the league this year. Conerly is getting practice looks from some of the best defenders he’ll see this year. That should serve him well.

With so much experience along the top line of the offensive two-deep, maybe Conerly’s only shot at extended first-team action this season will come because of injury. Sounds like he’s getting himself ready for if (when…?) his name is called.