The first day of the 2024 NFL Draft is over, and I have many thoughts on the Packers first round pick Jordan Morgan. First, this is the sixth year in a row the Packers first pick was on my draft board. As I have said on Twitter (yes I still call it Twitter), the Packers picking him didn’t surprise me; he had Packer written all over him.
Where they took him was a surprise. I felt, and still do feel, they could have traded down and still got him. Looking at the seven teams that picked after Green Bay, either none of them had a need at offensive line, or Morgan wasn’t their type of player.
Although he was announced as a tackle and Brian Gutekunst said he will be a tackle, his film, body type, and length all say he’s a guard. Going back though the past 10 drafts there have been 52 tackles drafted in the first round, besides Morgan. Only two others have had similar arm lengths or shorter: Kaleb McGary and Justin Pugh.
McGary was terrible as a rookie, giving up 13 sacks, and has averaged 7.2 sacks given up per season. If you take out his rookie season, it’s still over five — and he has only played right tackle. Pugh, on the other hand, played right tackle his first couple of seasons and was okay, but once he was moved to guard he had his best seasons.
Morgan will get cross-trained in Green Bay at tackle and guard. Sometime during training camp they will likely realize he’s a guard and let him compete with Sean Rhyan for right guard.
What Does This Say to Me?
To me, this says Gutekunst went off his board. I know he says they stuck to it, but that doesn’t make sense. This has shades of the 2021 draft, where he drafted players who felt like a weird fit for what they were drafted for.
For example, they traded up for Amari Rodgers and wanted him to be their slot receiver and returner, but if you watched his film he lacked speed and explosiveness to be a good returner and most of his touches at Clemson were schemed. They took an undersized tight end in Josiah Deguara and tried to make him into a H-back/fullback, and he was never either of those. Gutekunst also took Shemar Jean-Charles, who was an undersized outside corner who played at App State and was a barely average athlete, and they thought he would be a good nickel and special teamer and he wasn’t.
Morgan is probably best off being a second-round pick who is allowed a year to sit and develop and eventually take over at left guard. Elgton Jenkins will be the left guard for awhile — unless they move him to right guard. Being a first-round pick on the offensive line Morgan, will end up starting games. They always do.
Where Do I Think They Go From Here?
I think they attack linebacker, corner, and safety on day two. Maybe another offensive lineman to build depth. On day three, depth at running back and offensive line, maybe some more secondary, and/or linebacker depth depending on how day two goes. Their starting offensive line for 2024 is now basically set. As always check out everything else I have written and my Packers draft board.
Around The Block 