GREEN BAY — Rasheed Walker did it once. And now, he’ll have to do it again. 

A year ago at this time, Walker went into his third Green Bay Packers training camp set to battle then-rookie first-round draft pick Jordan Morgan to keep his starting left tackle job.

Walker, after playing zero offensive snaps (and only four special-teams snaps) as a rookie seventh-round pick in 2022, had been a godsend in 2023, starting 15 games and more than holding his own after five-time All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari started the season opener — and hasn’t played another NFL down since.

For his part, Walker took Morgan’s selection and the impending competition in stride, even helping Morgan get up to speed throughout the offseason program in advance of their competition.

“It’s not about, ‘Oh, I’m mad, I’m going to show them.’ That’s going to happen anyway. Because I’m a competitor,” Walker explained at the time. “But you have to embrace the young guys. Because at the end of the day I would want somebody to do that for me.”

The competition, of course, never materialized. Walker opened camp with the No. 1 offensive line, and he never gave up the job. While Morgan was hampered by a shoulder injury that wound up plaguing him throughout the season, Walker won the job fair and square even before the injury occurred.

Fast forward 11 months, and here we are again, for Walker-Morgan II. And this time around, it appears Morgan will have more than a puncher’s chance at winning the job.

“It’s going to be a great competition,” head coach Matt LaFleur predicted. “[Morgan] and ‘Sheed are going to battle it out and hopefully push each other to be that much better. Certainly, it’s something we feel like [Morgan] can do. Otherwise, we wouldn’t do it. So we’ll let them battle it out and see where it goes.”

During the five open-to-the-media practices the Packers held during their organized team activity sessions and mandatory minicamp, Walker got the first reps with the starting offensive line during the two OTA practices, but Morgan also worked with the starters, too.

But when Walker was sidelined with an undisclosed injury during minicamp, Morgan lined up at left tackle with the 1s in each team period.

Granted, the only full-speed periods during those practices were in 2-minute drills, so the competition has barely begun. But whoever ultimately comes out on top will bear the responsibility of protecting quarterback Jordan Love’s blind side in Love’s third season as the starter on a team with Super Bowl expectations.

Adding to the intrigue is that while Walker played 1,075 of the Packers’ 1,085 regular-season offensive snaps (99.2%), Morgan’s rookie season was essentially a medical redshirt year because of the shoulder injury, which limited to one start (at right guard).

On top of that, Walker is in the final year of his rookie contract and will be looking to earn a lucrative new deal — from the Packers or someone else next March — by parlaying his solid finish to 2024 into a hefty payday.

The Walker-Morgan competition is part of a greater overhaul of the offensive line that included giving ex-San Francisco 49ers left guard Aaron Banks a $77 million contract in free agency, shifting Pro Bowl left guard Elgton Jenkins to center (with Jenkins not participating in the offseason program while hoping to have some of the money contained in the remaining two years of his existing contract guaranteed) and three linemen — Walker, right guard Sean Rhyan and right tackle Zach Tom — all in contract years on the precipice of free agency.

“In this room, it’s always about competition. You know that,” offensive line coach Luke Butkus said after refusing to say Walker is the starter heading into camp. “And Rasheed will tell you that he’s working to win that job. Just like everyone else.”

About our “Most Important Packers of 2025” Series:  When the Packers kick off their seventh training camp under head coach Matt LaFleur on July 23, they’ll do so with a host of players facing pivotal seasons. LaFleur clearly believes he has ample talent to be a Super Bowl contender — even if he didn’t want to say so as the offseason program came to a close — but turning that belief into reality will require many of those players to produce at higher levels than they have in the past. This series, which began in 2010 on ESPNWisconsin.com, examines each of those players and how the team’s success hinges on their contributions. The list is compiled with input from team observers, former players and NFL sources.

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