Two years before Cody Conway committed to Syracuse as a three-star offensive tackle, he learned to play the position.

As a freshman at Plainfield North (Illinois) High School, Conway played for the freshman “A” and “B” teams. In the first game, he played tight end and defensive line. In the second game of the day, he stayed on the field and played his second position: Quarterback.

Conway remembered his team ran one pass play. Standing slightly above six feet tall as a freshman, Conway rolled out to the right side and searched for a receiver. If the first option wasn’t open, he’d tuck it and run.

“To see the fear in a bunch of the kids,” Said Plainfield North assistant coach Lawrence Wayne. “You think about it — a bunch of 14, 15-year-old freshman kids looking at this giant that’s going to run them over.”

Conway switched to offensive and defensive line full-time as a sophomore in high school, Plainfield North head coach Tim Kane said. At 6-foot-6, the move to offensive line is what would make Conway a Division I player. And then came the added bonus of Conway’s athleticism.

A winner of several mile races in middle school, a four-year basketball player at Plainfield North and standout member of the SU line’s walking football game, Conway has always been a big man that can move. Conway’s stayed mobile despite weighing near 300 pounds at Syracuse (9-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast) during his three seasons starting at left tackle. The senior and All-ACC honorable mention, along with fellow offensive tackle Koda Martin, has a chance to be drafted to the NFL in the spring. It’s a feat no Syracuse offensive lineman has accomplished since Justin Pugh in 2013.

“For a little bit, I didn’t enjoy football as much personally,” Conway said. “I feel like quarterback was something that I grew up playing and it was so exciting for me because you’re the guy out there, so then moving to o-line was a little bit like, I don’t know, it took the excitement out of the game.

“But then I started to realize it was something I could excel at and love just as much, so I bought into it, and it was something I ended up loving.”

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Two years removed from quarterback, Conway terrorized the position from the other side of the ball. Wayne and Kane remembered opposing teams purposely running away from Conway.

On the first play of Conway’s senior highlight tape from Plainfield North, he lined up as the far side defensive end as the opposing team ran an option play to the outside. Traditionally, Conway’s job as the unblocked lineman would be to hit the quarterback and trigger a pitch to the running back, whom a linebacker or secondary player would tackle. But Conway stepped toward the quarterback and forced the pitch. Then, he chased down the running back and swung him down for a five-yard loss.

Conway’s recruiting picked up the previous year. After starting one season at right tackle, Conway attended Big Man Elite Camp, an invitation-only national exposure camp for the top linemen in the Midwest. Conway’s father, Brian, remembered his son battled into the top group consisting of five to 10 linemen on both sides of the ball. That performance led to phone calls and interest from both Illinois and Rutgers, though he’d commit to Syracuse before his senior season.

Conway’s senior highlights: http://www.hudl.com/profile/4383407/Cody-Conway

“Cody makes my job easy because even if I mess up, he can get me right,” said Syracuse left guard Aaron Roberts. “The play can still work because Cody will get the job done. It’s great playing next to him, I wouldn’t want to play with anyone else but him.”

On the first third down of a Syracuse scoring drive against Clemson in late September, Conway halted Dexter Lawrence, who has seven tackles for loss on the season. Lawrence snuck inside late, but Conway’s bump allowed SU quarterback Eric Dungey time to complete a 31-yard pass down the sideline.

On a first down later in the drive, a likely first-round draft pick, defensive end Clelin Ferrell (10.5 sacks), failed to rush outside before escaping inside. Only Conway moved with Ferrell and forced him to overcommit inside the pocket, allowing Dungey to escape for a nine gain to the outside.

In a game many expected to be highlighted by a terrorizing Clemson defensive line, Conway didn’t allow a sack.

“Conway’s best ability is how well he pass blocks,” wrote Joe Marino, a senior draft analyst for The Draft Network, prior to the 2018 season. “He does well to initially frame rushers while remaining patient and under control.”

Marino continued: “While Conway won’t be confused as a big-bodied road-grader, his technique and pass blocking upside meshes well with today’s NFL.”

Conway is keeping his post-graduation options open with his parents mentioning the possibility of returning to school to pursue engineering, or even taking a stab at the PGA Tour.

But those are the secondary options. West Virginia and the Camping World Bowl give him one final shot at a college victory. And then it’s on to what’s always been the end goal, no matter where he played: The NFL

Published on December 21, 2018 at 12:53 pm

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