GREEN BAY – It's still early and the pads have been on for only two days, but last year's first-round draft pick, Jordan Morgan, might end up forcing the coaching staff to make some difficult decisions along the Packers' offensive line.
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich suggested as much when he met with the media on Wednesday. Not that he's complaining, because if Morgan is going to push for a starting job and make things tough on the decision-makers, that's a good problem to have.
"I like what I'm seeing from Jordan," Stenavich said. "He's competing at the tackle spot and the guard spot and he's looking pretty solid. So we're going to have a lot of interesting choices up front, not only with him, but with a bunch of guys."
Realistically, it's not as though the entire offensive line is in flux. Zach Tom just signed a contract extension to be Green Bay's long-term right tackle, Aaron Banks was signed on the first day of free agency to step in at left guard, and two-time Pro Bowler Elgton Jenkins is making the transition to center.
But the message all offseason was that Morgan, whose rookie season after arriving as a first-round pick from Arizona was cut short due to shoulder surgery, would be competing with right guard Sean Rhyan and left tackle Rasheed Walker for a spot in the lineup. And those competitions will only ramp up more now that veterans are getting healthy.
Due to back injuries for Banks and Jenkins, Morgan hasn't taken nearly as many snaps at tackle as guard so far. He's played a lot of right guard when Rhyan has shifted to center in Jenkins' place, and he's worked plenty at left guard with Banks out.
The plan is to get Morgan more reps at left tackle as the injured veterans get back to a full-time workload. That's not a knock on Walker, who's received praise from the coaches and GM Brian Gutekunst as a two-year starter on the blind side. Nor does it indicate Rhyan's spot at right guard is any more secure now than last year, when Morgan was rotating with him there before the shoulder trouble.
"No, I wouldn't say that," Stenavich said, when asked if Rhyan is the starter at right guard. "I'd say I like what Sean's doing. I'm glad he's getting some center reps as well, just to work on that position in case he has to go in there at some point in the season. But I wouldn't say any of these guys have anything locked up right now.
"That's one thing that is good about where we're at, because the competitiveness is going to bring out the best in everybody every day."
What's always preached, and sought, is consistency, and that'll be as much a determining factor as anything. There's a long way to go, with Family Night wrapping up this week of camp, and the weeks to come including a pair of joint practices and three preseason games.
If the competitions stay close all the way through, Stenavich didn't rule out regular-season rotations, which the Packers have utilized in the past.
Two years ago, Walker and Yosh Nijman were rotating at left tackle for a stretch of games until Walker won the full-time job. That same season, Jon Runyan and Rhyan were rotating at right guard, which carried all the way through the playoffs. Then last year, it was Rhyan and Morgan at right guard until Morgan's health issues.
"It might go into the season," Stenavich said. "If we think these guys are good enough to be starters and we just rotate guys, I'm comfortable with that. I really don't care. So we might have six or seven guys playing in a game consistently. Again, we've got to see how it goes."
There's no indication now as to whether a rotation would be any more likely at right guard versus left tackle, but whatever transpires, the unit looks as though it'll be in a good place with whoever winds up the "sixth man."
Either it'll be Morgan, a first-round draft pick; Rhyan, an 18-game starter at right guard; or Walker, a 35-game starter at left tackle. That's a lot to lean on if anyone becomes the odd man out.
"I don't know how it's going to shake out up front," Stenavich said. "But I am excited about just the possibilities and the options that we have, for sure."
