Cory's Corner: It's Time For Jordan Morgan
The battle for right guard will be interesting. Can Morgan make it through training camp this time?
Right guard is under the microscope once again.
Sean Rhyan beat out Jordan Morgan last year for the starting job. He was an average run blocker in 2024 and in 502 passing snaps, he allowed 24 quarterback pressures, seven hits and four sacks. Not to mention, he was also ticketed with six penalties.
Morgan is in his sophomore season after getting drafted 25th overall in 2024. Like many of Green Bay’s offensive linemen, Morgan can play all over the place. But what really hampered Morgan was the shoulder injury he suffered during training camp. He aggravated it two more times during the season, before his season was cut short in order to have shoulder surgery.
“How athletic he is,” said Packers offensive line coach Luke Butkus this past May about Morgan. “How easily he moves, how smooth it looks. Sometimes it even seems like he’s not straining or playing hard.”
That’s pretty high praise for a guy that only played in six games in his pro career and has only started one.
“At the end of the day, I would love to play left tackle and show all my talents and strengths at left tackle because I’ve been there so long,” said Morgan in May. “And I feel like that’s where I’ll thrive the most, but any position is fine with me too.”
That could very well be in a year or two, but right now the Packers need the versatile offensive lineman that glides on the field to play wherever he is most needed. That means that if there is a weak spot on the line, it needs to be filled with the most capable person.
There are so many things to get excited about this season for the Packers. A completely stocked wide receiver room. A defense with plenty of young talent that will probably surprise a lot of people and a quarterback that is still looking to prove to people who he really is.
This is going to sound crazy, but I’m actually looking forward to seeing how the right guard position unfolds. Rhyan is the incumbent, but Morgan is physically superior. Morgan has plenty of athletic gifts, but I want to know how Morgan reacts to plenty of pressure.
As beads of sweat come tumbling down Morgan’s forehead with the Railbirds looking on, can the soon to be 24-year-old prove he belongs?
It all starts July 23.
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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
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Comments (28)
PackEyedOptimist
July 22, 2025 at 06:55 am
Personally, I’m hoping Morgan wins the left tackle job and Belton wins the right guard job.
dobber
July 22, 2025 at 08:27 am
The operative word being "win". If they win the job because they're better players, then hell yes!
Coldworld
July 22, 2025 at 09:02 am
Always. But you are absolutely right, these aren’t roles serious teams compromise on unless it’s at least equivalence in upside once seasons start.
HawkPacker
July 22, 2025 at 08:55 am
My thoughts exactly. I love the current starter but now with signing Tom to that high contract, we have no more room for Rasheed Walker, which is too bad.
I hope Morgan is as good as they say for obvious reasons!
dobber
July 22, 2025 at 09:21 am
"we have no more room for Rasheed Walker, which is too bad."
I don't feel bad for Walker if he walks after 2025 (or gets traded this year). Barring a significant injury, he's going to get paid either way.
We assume the long-term plan is for Tom to stay on the right side, but most scouts saw Belton as a RT or G, and some have asserted that Tom has the feet and demeanor to play on the left side. He's earning his money on the RT, but also by being that flexible piece that allows the Packers to put their best 5 out there.
HawkPacker
July 22, 2025 at 09:51 am
Good points Dobber.
TKWorldWide
July 22, 2025 at 11:35 am
Power.
dblbogey
July 22, 2025 at 09:11 pm
Rasheed Walker will be gone next year simply because of the salary cap. Ideally Morgan beats out Walker, giving us Walker as a solid swing tackle this year.
Ihappydirt
July 23, 2025 at 01:22 am
Next year for LT. Walker is much better than serviceable and if we let him go next year we get a 3rd compensatory when he walks for a big deal. If Morgan supplants him this year, that value plummets. But if he deserves it, fine. I'll be surprised.
Wouldn't mind Belton taking over RG. Guy is huge and mobile. I don't hate Rhyan, but another compensatory available there.
Guam
July 22, 2025 at 07:19 am
The battle at RG will only happen if the Jenkins issue gets resolved and he plays for the Packers this year. Otherwise Rhyan may well slide inside to center and Morgan is the RG. I would love to see Monk assert himself at the center spot, but I have very little confidence of that happening after his performance as a rookie. Rhyan may be the only viable center choice if Jenkins holds out.
GregC
July 22, 2025 at 08:33 am
Hard to believe that Jenkins will leave $12 million sitting on the table because they are switching him to a different position, but what do I know? These things don't always make sense to me.
packerbackerjim
July 22, 2025 at 07:27 am
The probability Rasheed gets traded sometime before the start of the season depends on injuries/holdouts. I would not be surprised if he gets moved.
HawkPacker
July 22, 2025 at 08:57 am
There are so few trades anymore that I would be pleasantly surprised to see Walker get traded. It could be best for the Pack, if Morgan does win the starting battle.
Coldworld
July 22, 2025 at 09:06 am
If we trade Walker (and I don’t think we will) then is Tom our back up LT and Belton the starter? Belton will have to look pretty good and also pretty ready for that to be something I’d want to see. Who would then back up Tom and Belton? Glover? He’d have to have taken a big step. Hopefully he will, but I’m not banking on it.
HawkPacker
July 22, 2025 at 09:53 am
Do you mean Morgan?
stockholder
July 22, 2025 at 07:34 am
Point:
If Morgan got beat out, he isn't elite.
Replacing a good "battle strong" starter,
will impact this teams chemistry.
Strategic Calculations will fail,
if Morgan can't live up to expectations.
Gambling with the teams performance;
isn't worth demanding, he replace anyone..
jannesbjornson
July 22, 2025 at 04:57 pm
That's what Summer Session is all about--fighting for a starting Job. If Le Fleur wants mobile OTs for a moving pocket to keep Love's eyes moving to open space and giving the opposition the added responsibility to watch
for Love's scrambling, then Tom and Morgan are the guys. A lot of things snowball when you don't take the best option in front of you like Creed Humphrey.
stockholder
July 23, 2025 at 11:00 am
Walker should not be fighting for a job.
He has a very good pass protecting rating.
The only snowball, is injury.
IMO- making the TE more of a threat.
Is why you'd want better run blocking.
We were correct about Creed.
GregC
July 22, 2025 at 07:36 am
Rhyan did not really beat out Morgan for the starting job. He won it because Morgan got hurt. The coaches chose to platoon them when Morgan got healthy again.
Seems like it would be worth mentioning that according to the coaches, Morgan will begin training camp by competing at left tackle. That's what they said last year before they changed their minds, but I think it will really happen this time.
Coldworld
July 22, 2025 at 08:19 am
At this point it looks like it’s Morgan competing at LT, Belton at right and Jennings to be next up inside. Personally, it going to take quite a lot to convince me that Morgan is approximately as good in protection on the blind side as Walker, which is what I would want to see to start him there. So far, his run blocking has not suggested that it’s dramatically above Walkers either. I don’t care where he or Morgan were drafted, if Walker is noticeably better, I hope they stick with him at LT regardless.
My guess, pre-camp and health permitting, is that Morgan, Belton and Jennings are your 3 active OL not starting to start the season. If Jenkins did hold out, then Rhyan moves to C, Jennings or Morgan starts at RG and Monk is the added active back up. We will have to wait till contact really gets going to see this shake out.
GregC
July 22, 2025 at 08:49 am
I don't really see Morgan winning the LT job either. But if he doesn't, I think they will give him another shot at RG. Riding the bench would be a demotion for him. If he was able to play RG last year, he should be able to play RG this year.
Coldworld
July 22, 2025 at 09:10 am
I would not be surprised to see him in the RG mix if he’s not winning at LT. However, Rhyan improved a lot last year: it’s no shoe in and Rhyan seems more in line with the type they are looking for at G now apparently, as is Jennings, who could push them both if the competition is truly open.
LeotisHarris
July 22, 2025 at 08:33 am
"As beads of sweat come tumbling down Morgan’s forehead with the Railbirds looking on, can the soon to be 24-year-old prove he belongs?"
As existential questions continue to drive content in The Corner, we must remember at the end of the day, throwing the baby out with the bath water will do little to spite our faces if we fail to acknowledge the sound of one hand clapping.
dobber
July 22, 2025 at 08:46 am
WINNER!
TKWorldWide
July 22, 2025 at 11:36 am
High lair! 😂
DragonSilk
July 22, 2025 at 12:45 pm
Time for Jordan Morgan yes. Also, time for Lukas Van Ness, and in some respects Jordan Love too. I hope Lukas got stronger this offseason because his 17 bench reps sure didn't look to be strong enough last year. Just looking like Hercules isn't cutting it. Either one of those guys can be worked around, but as Love goes so go the Packers chances for No. 14. He needs to be the guy that humiliated Dallas in the playoffs. He needs to stop attempting to be Favre/Rodgers with the off balance passed that those 2 made look easy but made him look terrible. Just set your feet Jordan and use the talent you were blessed with. That will get us all to the Promised Land.
Lphill
July 22, 2025 at 02:15 pm
if he was a left tackle why is he even battling for right guard?
GregC
July 22, 2025 at 02:42 pm
Because when he was drafted, the Packers already had a pretty good left tackle, but the right guard position was wide open. Many offensive linemen are capable of playing more than one position. This is not just a Packers thing.