As Jordan Morgan developed into a first-round offensive line prospect, he frequently watched former Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari.
Morgan, who formerly played for Arizona, may now get the opportunity to replace Bakhtiari on the Packers’ offensive line.
On Thursday night, the Packers selected Morgan with the 25th overall pick in the NFL draft, breaking away from their customary focus on defensive players in the first round. Morgan wants to play like Bakhtiari, who was named an All-Pro.
“He’s very balanced and he has a good strike — he has a really good strike in the pass game, really strong arms, really strong upper body and he can lock people up, which is where I get my game from,” Morgan went on to say.
While Morgan predominantly played left tackle at Arizona, his NFL position is uncertain. Morgan, according to Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, can play both tackle and guard.
“I think he can play all four spots (left tackle, left guard, right tackle and right guard),” he stated.
“We’re fortunate enough that we’ve got a lot of guys in our group right now that can do that, and so I think we’ll kind of let the best five battle it out and see where that ends up.”
This is only the second occasion in the last 13 drafts that the Packers selected an offensive player with their first pick. The previous time occurred in 2020, when they traded up to pick Utah State quarterback Jordan Love at No. 26 overall.
Morgan is the first offensive lineman the Packers have selected in the first round since Derek Sherrod in 2011. “Where we had him valued, this was a pretty easy decision for us,” stated Gutekunst.
Green Bay needs to shore up its offensive line after losing most of its depth recently. Bakhtiari was released due to persistent knee troubles, and they lost guard Jon Runyan Jr. and tackle Yosh Nijman to free agency.
