Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters has the final say when it comes to deciding what the franchise does to improve their roster, but he's always open to suggestions from the staff.
Peters was still mulling over what the Commanders should do with the No. 29 overall pick earlier in the week when he saw a note from offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury sitting on his desk. There were only seven words on the paper, but that was more than enough for Peters to get the message: the Commanders should draft Oregon's Josh Conerly.
"I stopped by," the note read. "Take Oregon tackle. Thnx!"
That's what the Commanders ended up doing when they were on the clock near the end of the first round in the 2025 NFL Draft. They had calls from multiple teams looking to make a trade, something Peters had said earlier in the week was a possibility. However, he and the Commanders viewed Conerly as a can't-miss prospect. Needless to say, Kingsbury -- as well as the rest of the Commanders' coaching staff -- was thrilled with the selection.
"Everybody was just really pumped to get him," Peters said. "We were holding our breath for a while thinking he might go ahead of us. We were thrilled when he was there. It was an easy pick for us to make, and we're really, really pumped that we had another Commander in the building."
There's a reason why Kingsbury was so adamant about the Commanders using their first-round pick on Kingsbury, even though it wasn't technically a need for the roster after trading for Laremy Tunsil earlier in the offseason. Conerly only allowed one sack and five pressures last season, despite going against some of the best pass rushers in this year's class like Abdul Carter.
Conerly, who will turn 22 in November, still has room to grow, but he has enough physical traits to hint at a solid NFL future. Plus, the team believes Conerly is mature for his age and loves his dedication.
"It's really the total package," Peters said. "I think, first, you look at the tape and you see what an incredible athlete he is for his size, which is backed up by a lot of his testing numbers too. But just really the way he moves; just great feet, great lower body structure, great bend, and just super talented for a big man."
And though Kingsbury's note is a small gesture, it speaks to how the coaching staff has been sold on Conerly for a long time.
"He just really, really impressed us in person, just the way he handled himself really anybody we talked to," Peters said. "We debrief after those 30 visits, and you go around the room and talk about how each person interacted with him. It was all superlatives. We had like three really, really special guys here, and he was one of them."
