Earlier this year, Greenwood's Grant Morgan followed in the footsteps of older brother Drew, becoming an Arkansas Razorback. A senior, Drew had a standout season in 2015 and returns as the Hogs' top wide receiver this fall. But little brother is making some noise of his own in pre-season drills at linebacker.
Grant Morgan arrived in Fayetteville without a scholarship as a preferred walk-on. At 5-11 and 220 pounds, he was also a man without a position. He did it all at Greenwood – linebacker, receiver, punter, holder on field goals, and team captain. Some thought he might put on some weight and eventually find a home at fullback. But so far he's making his presence felt at his old position, linebacker.
Two of his peers have taken notice of Morgan's football acumen and praised the freshman for his savvy play, according to a recent article published on wholehogsports.com.
“He’s a kid that can find the ball and has good instincts, too,” said sophomore starter Dre Greenlaw. “I like the way he plays.”
“Being a walk-on, Grant showed me a lot,” sophomore Kendrick Jackson added. “He was out there the other day and he made a couple tackles and I was like, ‘Dang, he just got here.’ He showed me a lot. He just got here and he already knows the playbook, so he’s smart.”
According to the article, Morgan began pre-season camp at mike linebacker, but has since moved to the strong side spot. He’s impressed at both positions.
“He’s one of the smarter linebackers, especially out of that freshman class,” Greenlaw said. “You tell him once, that’s all you’ve got to tell him. He’ll ask good questions that the other linebackers aren’t quite understanding yet. But he understands. You can tell he has an idea for what he’s doing.”
Morgan recorded 149 tackles while leading Greenwood to the Class 6A state title game as a senior last fall. For his high school career, the three-year letterman tallied 317 tackles.
Greenwood Head Coach Rick Jones had the following to say about the younger Morgan. "Grant is one of the smartest guys I have coached. He knows the game. He will need some time to adjust to the speed of the [college] game. It's a daily process, [but] I believe Grant will play a lot at Arkansas at some point in the future."