Elgton Jenkins’ return to the lineup meant two things for the Packers. First, Jenkins taking up residence at center gave the Packers a look at their incumbent offensive line for the first time. The left to right lineup of Rasheed Walker, Aaron Banks, Elgton Jenkins, Sean Rhyan, and Zach Tom had yet to appear together in training camp, but the picture is now complete.
For now, at least. Because with Jenkins back on the field, there’s a second development. Jenkins playing center means that Sean Rhyan
can slide back to right guard, which frees up Jordan Morgan to take a crack at Rasheed Walker’s left tackle spot.
And that’s not just speculation. Matt LaFleur all but sounded the starting gun himself, telling reporters Morgan would be at left tackle “as much as possible” in the coming days and weeks
#Packers OC Adam Stenavich says Jordan Morgan will work in at left tackle "as much as possible" for competition with Rasheed Walker now that Elgton Jenkins is back. Without Jenkins, LT competition was limited with Morgan needing to rep more at guard.
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 30, 2025
In other words: it’s on.
Walker, the incumbent, won’t go gently into the good night. He’s already defended his position multiple times after he was the first man up following David Bakhtiari’s knee problems to start the 2023 season. Walker got the first chance to be the Packers’ new starting left tackle, jumping Yosh Nijman for the chance and then holding Nijman off during an in-season position battle. Then, after the Packers took Morgan, a career left tackle at Arizona, in the first round of the 2024 battle, Walker won his job again without ever even fighting for it when the Packers installed Morgan at guard to start his NFL career.
Now, though, Walker will have to win his position again, and he might not be the favorite this time around, even if the job is his right now.
Walker is a free agent after this season, while the Packers have Morgan under team control for at least two and possibly three more years. Morgan is also a better athlete and was no slouch as a draft prospect, ranking as the 35th best player on the 2024 consensus big board and eighth best tackle. And for what it’s worth, Morgan appeared to have won the starting right guard job over Sean Rhyan last season before shoulder injuries scuttled his season.
But Walker has plenty of bona fides on his side, too. He hasn’t been perfect, but he’s been available and reliable, starting 32 games over the last two regular seasons and all three of the Packers’ playoff games across 2023-24. Among tackles who played at least 500 snaps last year, Pro Football Focus graded Walker as the 19th-best pass blocker. That’s hardly elite, but solid enough, and easily in the top third of the league in that grading group. His run blocking left something to be desired (58th among the same group of tackles), but Walker is at least an average NFL tackle, and could possibly be considered above average depending how you’d like to weight those grades.
That’s a fairly high bar for Morgan to clear, but not impossible. Maybe he’s not an above-average tackle right now, but could he get there by the first quarter of the season? The first half? It took time for Walker to find his feet during his first season as a starter. Would the Packers bet on Morgan’s potential and hope for some quick on-the-job learning at the risk of some early season bumps and bruises? If he gains any kind of edge over Walker during their training camp battle, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them pull the trigger and ride it out.
But no matter who ends up being the victor, this battle seems far from over.
More from acmepackingcompany.com:
- Black and Blue News: This Week in the NFC North for July 6, 2014
- Cheese Curds: Green Bay Packers News and Links for July 7, 2014
- Packers 2013 Top Plays Recap: Top Ten Best Plays of the Year
- Packers Featured Heavily in NFL's Top 20 Games of 2013
- Packers' 2014 Roster Preview: Returning Quarterbacks
- Packers' 90-Man Roster Countdown: Players 5-1
