Green Bay Packers second-year offensive lineman Jordan Morgan will get a chance to win the left … More
Jordan Morgan talked about his desire to play left tackle from the moment he arrived in Green Bay last April.
Morgan, the Packers’ first round draft pick in 2024, will get that chance in 2025.
Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said Tuesday that Morgan and incumbent Rasheed Walker will battle for the starting left tackle job when the Packers begin offseason practices next month.
“It’s going to be a great competition,” LaFleur said of Morgan and Walker. “Him and ‘Sheed are going to battle it out and hopefully push each other to be that much better.”
Walker has started at left tackle the last two seasons and been solid.
Walker’s overall grade by Pro Football Focus last year was a 68.3, which ranked 44th out of 141 NFL tackles. Walker’s pass blocking grade of 79.6 ranked an impressive 21st among tackles, but his run blocking grade of 54.1 ranked just 108th.
In 1,073 snaps, Walker allowed three sacks and was penalized nine times. While Walker — a seventh round draft pick in 2022 — wasn’t elite, he was sturdy, helping the Packers rank second in sacks allowed (22) and fifth in total offense (370.8).
“I think Rasheed’s done a lot of really, really good things for us,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said Monday. “I don’t think he necessarily needs to show anything. Like anything, you’ve got to continue to play at a high level.
“We’re going to have a lot of competition there — not just at his spot, but all across the offensive line. We’ve got guys like Jordan Morgan, who I think is going to really emerge. It will be good to see that competition and we’ll be better for it.”
Morgan was a left tackle at Arizona, then battled Sean Rhyan for the right guard job last summer in Green Bay. Those two split snaps at right guard early in the season, before Morgan was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
At Arizona, Morgan was strictly a left tackle and allowed just two sacks in 787 total snaps in 2023.
Morgan led the Wildcats’ offensive line in total blocking grade that season (84.3), run-blocking grade (77.0), and pass-blocking grade (87.3) per Pro Football Focus. His overall offensive blocking grade (84.3) was fifth in the Pac-12, his pass-blocking grade (87.3) was also fifth in the Pac-12 and he was named first-team all-conference.
In Morgan’s final two years with the Wildcats, he allowed just three sacks in 880 pass-blocking snaps.
Morgan is a high-level athlete, but his arms are extremely short compared to most left tackles. Many teams want their left tackles to have 34-inch arms, but Morgan’s are 32’ 7/8”.
Green Bay believes Morgan can play left tackle, though. And the Packers will give him a chance to prove it this offseason.
“Well, certainly, I mean, it’s something we feel like he can do,” LaFLeur said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t do it. So we’ll let them battle it out and see where it goes.”
