The Green Bay Packers' decision to take offensive lineman Jordan Morgan with the No. 25 pick in the 2024 NFL draft was met with mixed reviews. He looked like a solid prospect in a position of need, but there were other options to consider at the time, such as Cooper DeJean or Kool-Aid McKinstry, who could potentially have been bigger impact players for the Packers.
Fast forward to today, and it's become painfully evident that the experiment hasn't worked. Morgan has been benched after failing all over the offensive line, seeing only nine special teams snaps and zero on offense in Weeks 13 and 14.
As gloomy as things might appear, though, The Athletic's Matt Schneidman doesn't see the team giving up on him any time soon.
Packers Could Start Jordan Morgan Again Next Season
In his latest mailbag session, Schneidman predicted that the Packers will let Rasheed Walker walk away in free agency. That would leave the door wide open for Jordan Morgan to claim his spot as the starting left tackle:
"I would be very surprised if they extended (Rasheed) Walker," Schneidman wrote. "Morgan may not be a good right guard, but he’s a natural left tackle, and that could very well be his best position. It just hasn’t been open this season, and the Packers’ best five, at least over the last three games, has featured rookie Anthony Belton at right guard instead. My guess is they let Walker leave in free agency and start Morgan at left tackle next season. If that fails, then we can discuss him not being a good pick."
Head coach Matt LaFleur and his staff have insisted on deploying Morgan at multiple positions, spending time at both guard spots, as well as right tackle. He seemed to have the body type and positional versatility to be a stopgap all over the offensive line, but that clearly hasn't worked. Instead, it seems like the Packers should have him focus on being great at one position, rather than mediocre at multiple.
Entering Week 15, Morgan had allowed 20 pressures across 338 passing downs while contributing very little to helping the run game. With Walker potentially out of the picture next year, the ex-Arizona Wildcat would be able to focus on improving his skills as a tackle, leaving Belton to primarily handle RG duties moving forward.
Morgan hasn't lived up to expectations, but he is still young, showing enough potential during training camp, or else he wouldn't have opened the year as a starter. Of course, that's not to say that the Packers shouldn't have a Plan B in case Morgan continues to struggle next season.
But given Walker's uncertain future and the potential of someone like Elgton Jenkins being bought out, Packers fans shouldn't be surprised if Morgan opens the 2026 season as a starter.