Jordan Morgan pick is already haunting the Packers in 2024

The Green Bay Packers value versatility in their players, which is extremely helpful in a variety of cases, especially for offensive linemen. The more you can do, the better chance you have of playing for Matt LaFleur and Adam Stenavich. And to the Packers' credit, valuing versatility has paid off in tremendous ways already.

Elgton Jenkins and Zach Tom are a couple of primary examples of how valuing versatility has helped the Packers assemble their offensive line up to this point. But has prioritizing versatility burned the Packers with their selection of offensive lineman Jordan Morgan in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft?

The early returns at training camp indicate that may be the case.

Jordan Morgan being shoehorned at guard is costing the Packers at tackle

The word out of Packers OTAs and minicamp was not overwhelmingly positive regarding the team's first-round pick out of Arizona. Matt LaFleur even stated publicly that Morgan had a long way to go when it came to the mental aspect of coming into an NFL program.

It seems as though he's been practicing better here as we've gotten into training camp, but the Packers are letting Morgan settle in at the right guard position, which is frustrating for a couple reasons.

Obviously, it would be great to have him settle into a spot and be able to be part of the starting five as a rookie, but this is a player who was a left tackle at Arizona. He's not only being kicked inside to guard but the Packers are having him play on the right side of the line. Again, that's not going to be a big deal if and when Morgan starts and excels at it, but the team lacks tackle depth and might have better alternative options on the interior offensive line.

With Zach Tom missing time, it seems like this would be the perfect opportunity for the Packers to get Morgan some work at the right tackle position, but as much as they may value that versatility from him, it's looking more and more like tackle was never really the plan for Morgan at all. The Packers are diving headfirst into him playing right guard, even at the expense of the tackle position.

Andre Dillard has been a sieve at training camp thus far, giving up pressure after pressure. Maybe things would be different if we were in the regular season, but the Packers' depth at tackle is certainly being tested, and if getting the best five out there is the top priority, you'd have to think Morgan would slide to right tackle at some point...right?

The sooner Tom is back in the mix, the better. After the investment the Packers just made in Jordan Love, seeing the offensive line struggle in training camp -- especially in the depth department -- is the last thing this team needs.

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