For the first time since drafting Jordan Love in 2020, the Green Bay Packers used a first-round pick to add an offensive player to the roster. Well, the first year wasn't a great success for offensive lineman Jordan Morgan. The same applies to third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd, who barely played because of multiple injuries and an appendicitis.

The bad news is that their rookie seasons weren't as impactful as the Packers hoped for. The good news is that the offense can get a major boost in 2025 even before considering they can add more pieces to it.

This is the second article of our Rookie Report Card series.

Jordan Morgan

The Packers surprised many by picking Jordan Morgan, projected to play at guard, in the first round. Especially because Graham Barton, perceived as a much better interior lineman prospect, was still available and went a pick later for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

What gave the Packers confidence to make it was Morgan's versatility. Throughout the offseason and early in training camp, Morgan had reps at left tackle, left guard, right guard, and right tackle. At some point, the coaching staff decided it would make sense to keep him at right guard as a rookie, because that was the position where he would have the best chance of making an immediate impact.

Morgan surpassed Sean Rhyan early in training camp and was slated to start. However, a shoulder injury was in his way—and affected all of his season, ending it right after his lone start in Week 9, at left guard, against the Detroit Lions. At that point, Morgan had rotated with Rhyan, which made him play 186 total offensive snaps (17%) in 2024.

When he did play, it was up and down as you would expect from a rookie offensive lineman. Morgan was relatively solid in pass blocking, but the run block was more of an issue.

For 2025, putting him back at tackle is a possibility—despite the unusual short arms for the position, the Packers think he can play all spots.

"We've got some decisions to make moving forward on the offensive line, and as we go through that there might be some shuffling around," general manager Brian Gutekunst said after the season. "Getting Jordan Morgan back, now that he's had his shoulder surgery, get him out there on a consistent basis, whether that be at tackle or guard or wherever we decide to play him, it will be really helpful as well."

Center Josh Myers will be a free agent, which could open the door for the Packers to move Elgton Jenkins or Sean Rhyan from guard to center. Looking now, guard is still the place where Morgan is more likely to be.

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MarShawn Lloyd

When the Packers moved on from Aaron Jones and signed Josh Jacobs, they knew exactly the area where the offense would downgrade: rushing explosive plays. Jacobs can carry a heavier workload and is efficient on a down-to-down basis, but he is not nearly as explosive as Jones was.

That's in part why they took Lloyd in the third round. In his final college season at USC, Lloyd averaged 7.1 yards per attempt—and half of his total yards were gained after contact.

The Packers couldn't see his potential as a rookie, though. Lloyd had a hamstring sprain in training camp, a sprained ankle in his first and only regular season game in Week 2 against the Indianapolis Colts, was placed on the non-football illness list with appendicitis, and reaggravated the hamstring injury late in the season.

After this unfortunate sequence of events, he finished the season with six carries for 15 yards and a reception for three yards, all of it in a game.

"When he played in the Indy game, you could see his explosiveness on tape," head coach Matt LaFleur mentioned. "He would definitely add a dynamism to that room and to that position. Anytime you can have, whether it's a tight end or a runner that can create matchup issues in the passing game, that's huge for you. He's got a lot of explosive ability."

If these players can get healthy in 2025, the offense can take a leap. Just like the Packers expected nine months ago.

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