Packers face crucial decision as battle for starting job remains unresolved with regular season fast approaching
One day ahead of the regular season opener in Brazil against the Philadelphia Eagles, fans of the Green Bay Packers have a clear picture of what their team will look like playing in São Paulo. But there is an exception. Unusual circumstances forced the Packers into an uncharted territory, and (at least publicly) it has […]
One day ahead of the regular season opener in Brazil against the Philadelphia Eagles, fans of the Green Bay Packers have a clear picture of what their team will look like playing in São Paulo. But there is an exception. Unusual circumstances forced the Packers into an uncharted territory, and (at least publicly) it has been revealed who will start at right guard.
How we got here
When the Packers allowed Jon Runyan to leave in free agency and sign with the New York Giants, Sean Rhyan became the presumed starter — since he shared snaps with Runyan throughout last season.
Things quickly changed when Green Bay drafted Jordan Morgan in the first round and decided he was going to be a right guard early on, despite his tackle experience in college. Early in training camp, Morgan performed well and surpassed Rhyan, but a shoulder injury hindered his first NFL camp. The rookie didn’t play a single preseason snap, forcing the Packers to consider Rhyan as a starting option once again.
“(Sean Rhyan) has done a great job,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “Given that opportunity, he’s stepped up and shown he can be our guy if we need him to be.”
Open window
Green Bay appears to be comfortable if it needs to play the former third-round pick to start the season. However, Jordan Morgan’s ceiling is obviously higher. And that’s why the coaching staff hasn’t ruled out starting the rookie from the get go.
He missed a significant part of training camp and preseason games, but he’s been healthy for a couple of weeks and has integrated himself well within the offense.
“Jordan’s coming along in practice and stuff, so we’re just kinda taking that situation day to day and seeing what happens there,” Stenavich added.
Year of changes
It has been a wild 2024 for the Packers offensive line. General manager Brian Gutekunst released left tackle David Bakhtiari, while Runyan (New York Giants) and Yosh Nijman (Carolina Panthers) left in free agency. The team signed veteran Andre Dillard and drafted three offensive linemen — Jordan Morgan, whose tackle/guard versatility caught Green Bay’s attention, plus swing interior offensive lineman Jacob Monk and developmental tackle Travis Glover. Kadeem Telfort has always had a bigger role than he had as an undrafted rookie last season.
The coaching staff deserves the benefit of the doubt in terms of development of players and taking the most out of them. Decision-making, though, has been questionable — there have been multiple examples, like playing Lane Taylor over Elgton Jenkins in 2019, Billy Turner over Yosh Nijman in 2021, and Nijman over Zach Tom in 2022. For the most part, it was just a desire to slow down the impact of young players, but putting worse players on the field was costly at certain points.
Now, it’s a matter of how healthy Jordan Morgan is, and how quickly he can really learn the offense. When both answers are positive, the rookie will be ready to roll.
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Green Bay starts its season on Friday against the Eagles
