NFL

Kutztown’s Jordan Morgan meets with Eagles

Kutztown’s Jordan Morgan meets with Eagles

INDIANAPOLIS— Almost invisible to the 1,300 assembled media members here at the NFL Scouting Combine, little known offensive line prospect Jordan Morgan sits patiently waiting to be noticed by reporters.

While high profiled prospects are being swarmed by the masses, two reporters wander over to the table where Morgan awaits and begin to inquire about the small school Philadelphia native, who was recently honored with the 2016 Gene Upshaw Award, given to the best lineman, offensive or defensive, in NCAA Division II college football.

“Kutztown, where’s that?”

It’s the most asked question Morgan receives and often the first, as he begins his geography lesson to the reporters, “It’s an hour and a half west of Philadelphia.”

For Morgan, who didn’t begin playing football until his senior season at Parkway Northwest High School and was forced to walk-on to the Golden Bears football program, he has learned to parlay his underdog role into a source of inspiration.

“I wasn’t recruited coming out of high school. Coming from a smaller school made me more of a grittier player, I’m not afraid to go there and get after it.” Morgan continued, “There’s some teams out there that think very highly of me, it’s even more motivation for me to go out there and go and kill it.”

“I’ve only been playing football for five and a half years so I understand that I’m a raw player but in the same breath, I know that I have tremendous upside.”

A two-time team captain, Morgan seeks to become just the fourth player drafted in school history and the first since John Mobley in 1996.

“These bigger school guys, they have amazing strength and conditioning coaches, they have all types of resources,” Morgan explained. “I haven’t had some of the resources or coaching that a lot of these other players have had.

While he made 43 career starts at left tackle over the past four seasons, most NFL scouts project Morgan, who measured in at 6-3, 309 pounds, to play inside at the next level as guard.

With depth along the offensive line being a key need heading into the offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles met with Morgan as one of their first interviews at the combine.

Along with his aggressive playing style and versatility, Morgan possesses extremely long arms, to go along with solid footwork technique.

Now that the combine portion of his draft process over, Morgan, who had been training at TEST Football Academy in Martinsville, New Jersey will have one more opportunity to showcase his talents in front of pro scouts at the Temple Owls pro day workout on March 8th.

Representing the heart and pride of Philadelphia football, Morgan might not remain unknown for very long and is certainly a name worth remembering when the NFL Draft rolls into town.

“I think that any team that takes a chance on me wont regret it and hopefully I turn myself into a star player.”