The Green Bay Packers selected Jordan Morgan with the 25th pick to protect quarterback Jordan Love. However, experts doubt whether the 22-year-old is up to the demands of playing left tackle in the NFL. The rookie has now made his position clear

Jordan Love appears to be well on his way to becoming the Green Bay Packers’ new franchise quarterback.

General manager Brian Gutekunst’s decision to select a protector for the 25-year-old with the top pick in this year’s draft therefore makes perfect sense.

The Packers had a need on the offensive line anyway, they struck at No. 25 and took Jordan Morgan, who ideally could protect Love’s blindside as a left tackle for many years to come.

But right from the start, some experts doubted whether the 22-year-old could do the job at the NFL level. For one, Morgan was injury-prone in his college days with the Arizona Wildcats, missing games with shoulder and ankle injuries and tearing his ACL in 2022.

What made the experts even more doubtful, however, was the arm length of the 1.96-metre tall and 140-kilogram player. This is given as just under 84 centimetres, whereas in the NFL 86.4 centimetres (34 inches) is repeatedly cited as the minimum requirement for an offensive tackle.

Morgan doesn’t want to change positions

Dane Brugler, draft analyst at “The Athletic”, therefore suggested that Morgan would be better off as a guard in the NFL. However, Morgan himself is not even thinking about switching positions, as he made clear at the Packers’ rookie mini camp.

“I hear the short arms thing a lot,” he explained, slightly annoyed: “Apparently people haven’t watched my video footage. I think I use my arms very well. I keep players off the ball, I protect the quarterback and the pass well. Look at the stats. It doesn’t bother me. I’m going to prove everybody wrong.”

Morgan, who is considered a good athlete with a powerful first step, had faced concerns about his arm length early in his college career.

Packers add Love to roster at tackle

“I didn’t care. I didn’t think it was a big deal when I got to college. The coaches put me at left tackle because they thought I was a good left tackle. And that’s what I was,” Morgan explained.

And head coach Matt LaFleur also seems to believe in Morgan as Love’s blindside bodyguard. The rookie is listed as an offensive tackle on the Packers’ roster and was used as a left tackle on the first day of mini camp. “I’m going to try to show everyone that I’m a real left tackle and can protect the quarterback,” Morgan promised.

Jordan Love will certainly be happy to hear that