Paul Bretl | 8/15/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis — The competition for the Packers’ starting left tackle role is on.
It was delayed initially during training camp while Elgton Jenkins was sidelined, which resulted in Jordan Morgan seeing more snaps at guard with Sean Rhyan at center.
Then, more recently, Rasheed Walker was sidelined with a groin injury, but has returned to the team portion of practice as of late. On Tuesday, he and Morgan were alternating series at left tackle with the ones.
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“I’m just going out there and playing my game,” Jordan Morgan said at his locker on Tuesday. “I’m not going out there every day and thinking ‘oh I gotta beat him now.’ I’m going out there, how am I going to win this rep? How am I going to win this set? How am I going to perform in this team period?
“It’s not like I’m thinking about that all day. It’s really just focusing on my technique and myself. How I can better the team?”
As a rookie in 2024, Morgan ended up competing at right guard with Rhyan for playing time. The two would split reps early on in the regular season, but a shoulder injury would end Morgan’s season prematurely. He ended up appearing in six games, making one start, and playing 186 snaps on offense.
Now back at left tackle, Morgan is where he is most comfortable. This is Morgan’s natural position after all. Of the 2,404 snaps he played in college at Arizona, 2,392 of them came at left tackle.
So the transition from guard to tackle has been mostly smooth, but admittedly, there has been some rust to knock off for Morgan.
“I mean there is a little bit of rust,” Morgan said. “When you go from the inside everything happens quicker to getting out there. Setting you just gotta wait on the guy or they’re quicker outside so you just gotta get used to their speed. Get used to the rushes out there, so just knocking off the rust. But eventually you snap back into it.”
Compared to last offseason, Morgan spent much more time preparing to play tackle this year–knowing that he would be competing with Walker for playing time. But he also continued to cross-train, making sure he got reps at both guard spots as well.
Along with–mostly–being back at left tackle, where Morgan is most comfortable, he’s now also in Year 2 of the Matt LaFleur offense. With that comes added confidence in not only what Morgan’s responsibilities are, but the jobs of those around him. And confident play often leads to faster play.
“Way more comfortable,” Morgan said of the offense. “I mean way more confident out there. I feel really good out there. Everybody tells me that. All the coaches tell me I look confident out there and I feel confident so it adds up.”
The coaching staff was very pleased with what they saw from Morgan during the Packers’ Family Night Scrimmage. He then carried that momentum over to the preseason opener against the New York Jets.
Morgan would see extended action in that game, playing 36 offensive snaps. Of those reps, 23 came in pass protection, where Morgan didn’t allow a sack or even a pressure, according to PFF’s tracking data.
“He’s had a really good camp,” GM Brian Gutekunst said of Morgan. “Played really well on Family Night and I thought he even upped the level in the preseason game. Again, he’s a young player that his best football is going to be ahead of him and he’s still working on some things, but I thought he played really well.”
The high-level play from Morgan has been on display, but as is the case for any young player, it’s about finding that day-to-day and down-to-down consistency. It’s a credit to Lukas Van Ness and the other Green Bay pass rushers, but there are still reps where Morgan ends up out of position.
However, overall, the Packers see an ascending player in Morgan. Two things can be true at once: there can still be things to work on with Green Bay also being bullish about Morgan’s trajectory.
“I think I played good,” Morgan said of his preseason performance. “I mean I could always do better. I’m my hardest critic. I’m going to keep critiquing myself no matter what it is.
“But at the at the end of the day, I think I played solid and there’s a lot of things I can get better at. From punching earlier to firming up the pocket to running off the ball quicker, getting set quicker. A lot of things.”