Packers draft pick Jordan Morgan dominated top competition

To understand Green Bay’s choice in the first round, just watch him versus the top pass-rusher in the 2024 class.

When the Green Bay Packers were on the clock with the 25th pick of the draft on Thursday night, many expected the selection to be either Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean or Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton. Instead, the Packers chose to go with Arizona’s Jordan Morgan — who has been rumored to be a first-round pick for the last two seasons — one pick ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selecting Barton.

Right as Morgan was building steam as a first-round pick during the 2022, he tore his ACL against the UCLA Bruins, leading to him returning to school for the 2023 campaign as he hoped to improve his draft stock by proving to teams that he could bounce back from that knee injury. One event that seemed to help him was the Senior Bowl, as Senior Bowl director Jimy Nagy stated that Morgan won every single one-on-one rep during the week’s events and even called him a first-round lock.

But who did Morgan play other than his peers at the Senior Bowl? His biggest competition, by far, came in his last two matchups against UCLA pass-rusher Laiatu Latu, who was the first pass-rusher drafted in the 2024 class. That’s right, let’s revisit the 2022 (and 2023) Bruins film.

The 2022 edition of the Latu-Morgan matchup didn’t provide much information, as the two only lined up against each other in a pass-rushing situation once: a stunt that Morgan easily passed off to his right tackle.

In 2023, though, they had more head-to-head matchups. You don’t have to hear it from me, just watch the video linked above: Morgan dominated Latu in the pass-rushing game. As a reminder, Latu’s pass-rushing ability — despite having a fused neck — is why he was drafted 15th overall by the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday.

Who knows if Morgan will stick at tackle or kick inside to guard, but you can’t question what he did against NFL competition at the college level. While the Pac-12 didn’t have many NFL-caliber pass-rushers during Morgan’s time in college football, he certainly impressed against both Latu and Senior Bowl competition.

For anyone doubting the selection, too, I was told by a league source that the assumption is that Morgan was well-liked by the Baltimore Ravens and was expected to be their selection if he remained on the board to the 30th pick. Mind you, we don’t know whether the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Dallas Cowboys — who picked offensive linemen in the first round after Morgan was selected — would have chosen him given the opportunity, either.