beast
  • beast
  • Select Member Topic Starter
8 months ago

It’s been a tough start for the Packers’ 2024 first-round pick.

It was less than three months ago that Jordan Morgan was the Packers ’ starting right guard.


Sure, unofficial depth charts aren’t really worth the digital paper they’re printed on. But when the Packers dropped the first edition of their 2024 depth chart, they listed Morgan, not incumbent Sean Rhyan, as their starting right guard.


That was August 5. The next day, Morgan left practice with a shoulder injury, and on August 7, head coach Matt LaFleur said the 2024 first-round pick would be out “probably a week or so.”


Instead, Morgan’s injury lingered for three weeks, wiping out his entire preseason. Rhyan, who split time down the stretch in 2023 with Jon Runyan Jr., reclaimed the starting job and hasn’t given it back.


Worse, Morgan has seemingly not been able to make up any ground. When healthy, the Packers have continued to drip-feed him a few snaps, but he’s consistently been well behind Rhyan.


Through eight weeks, Rhyan has never played fewer than 55% of the Packers’ snaps on offense, while Morgan has only broken 50% once. Even that small success comes with an asterisk: Morgan played 52% of the Packers’ snaps in Week 6, but that’s only because he and Rhyan were briefly on the field together. That day, Rhyan bumped to left guard after Elgton Jenkings slid to center due to an injury to Josh Myers.


For his part, Rhyan has been playing well, and part of the reason Morgan hasn’t played more is a recurrence of his shoulder injury. He reinjured his shoulder in the Packers’ Week 2 win over the Colts and was out the next three weeks.


But now completely healthy, Morgan seems to be falling further behind. He has played just 22 and 31 snaps in Weeks 7 and 8, respectively. Those are the lowest and third-lowest snap totals he’s posted this season.


Morgan’s season has been concerning on several fronts. Even with respect to Rhyan’s relatively strong play, it’s hard to spin any kind of positivity out of Morgan’s inability to surpass a player who was, until relatively recently, all but an afterthought in Green Bay. Part of that is because the Packers have asked Morgan to play a position he’s never played before, but that itself is a frustrating decision because it didn’t have to be made.


To wit: the Packers are once again in the position of watching a player taken directly after their selection immediately establish himself as a solid NFL player. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers  took Duke interior lineman Graham Barton 26th overall this spring, installed him at center, and never looked back. Outside of Week 6, when a hamstring injury kept him on the sideline, Barton has played every single snap for the Buccaneers. It’s not quite a one-to-one comparison to the Josh Myers/Creed Humphrey situation, but it is frustrating to see the Packers take a project player when a ready-made option was sitting right there.


To be clear, Morgan could still develop into a high-quality NFL player. Five games (along with three missed due to injury) do not a career make. Rhyan alone is evidence of what can come with a little patience. But it’s been an inauspicious start for the Packers’ top selection in the 2024 NFL Draft , and hopefully things will turn around for Morgan in the near future.










Continue Reading @ Jon Meerdink 

Jon Meerdink wrote:


UserPostedImage
8 months ago
thanks for posting.

I still believe he can be a very good LT.
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wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
8 months ago
I like Jon. I listen to his podcasts but this is a case of needing to create content for the sake of creating it.
We are not even through Morgan's first season. He has been injured. He is a rookie. Rhyan is playing better than he has in the past. The team as a whole is doing well. There simply isn't a need to push Morgan out there and let him learn under fire.

Jon failed to mention that Rhyan, a third round pick, needed 3 years to develop into the player he is today.

Just let it alone. If Morgan outplays Rhyan, GREAT. If Rhyan outplays Morgan- that is still probably a win.
Wait until after the season is over. wait until after the offseason has run it's course. Wait until after next years training camp is in the books then see what we have.
Things take time. The Packers just signed a top 20 pick to the PS. Not every player is going to make it. Some take a little while to get up to speed. There is still time for Morgan.
UserPostedImage
Mucky Tundra
8 months ago
As disappointing as Morgan's rookie season might seem, consider the alternative: GB goes a different route in round 1, Rhyan regresses from last year and now the team is relying on a day 2 or 3 rookie guard to step up. With so many guys gone from last year (Runyan, Njiman, Newman etc), the team was always going to play it safe by willing to have a high draft pick (1st or 2nd round) ride the pine all year if need be.
Under Construction!
beast
  • beast
  • Select Member Topic Starter
8 months ago
While Rhyan might be a tad under average of a starting OL, there are currently (of players with at least 100 snaps) only 5 rookie OL that have better PFF grade than him.

Two OTs that were taken in the top 14 overall picks (Chargers RT and Saints LT and Saints LT has an absolutely horrible pass blocking grade, but a very very good run blocking grade makes up for it). So they were not on the draft board when the Packers drafted Morgan.

Two Centers, Steelers starting Center whom has a slightly below average pass blocking grade, but is dominant in the run game. Colts IOL backup from Wisconsin, whom has only played 3 games... and whom the Packers had in for a visit, so they were interested in him. And I think it's fair to say the Packers were not drafting for a Center when they drafted Morgan.

And that leaves just one, 49ers RG Dominick Puni, whom was considered an OT/OG tweener, and I suggested could be a dominant OG, but needs a lot of coaching to get his consistency better for an NFL OT.



So I think it comes down to the question, what were the Packers attempting to draft for when they drafted Morgan.

If it was a Center, they failed, as Morgan isn't a Center, so I don't think that is what they were drafting for.

If it was an OG, then Puni would of been better.

If it was an OT, then it looks like Morgan might of been the best available at his slot.


Of all rookie OL, with at least 60 game snaps, Morgan is 6th in pass blocking grade. Two OTs that were taken in the top 7 overall are the only ones playing OT.

Leaving just backup IOL Center Tanor Bortolini, RG Dominick Puni and UDFA RG Dalton Tucker and it should be noted that Bortolini and Tucker both play for the Colts whom have been starting a struggling running QB.

So once again, it's basically just Morgan or Puni... and Puni wasn't taken until 87 overall. Though I will say, I thought Puni would make a good OG, as he's big, athletic and plays mean, just needs a lot of consistency work on his OT technique.
UserPostedImage
8 months ago
other than the holding call, I thought he had a pretty good game.
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