Razorback Roster Rundown: No. 31 Grant Morgan

This article is part of a series previewing the Razorbacks’ 2020 football roster.

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Since redshirting during the 2016 season, Grant Morgan has appeared off the bench at linebacker or on special teams in all 36 games for the Razorbacks.

Defensively, he actually got his most playing time as a redshirt freshman, when he played 213 snaps and made 38 tackles - including 3.5 for loss and one sack. He also had a couple of pass breakups, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble, earning a 79.2 grade from Pro Football Focus.

During fall camp the following season, Morgan was one of three walk-ons awarded scholarships by new head coach Chad Morris.

After getting only 110 defensive snaps - and earning a 54.9 grade - in Morris’ first season, Morgan saw an uptick in playing time last season. He played 167 snaps and earned a respectable 65.7 grade from PFF. Despite playing nearly 50 fewer snaps than two years earlier, Morgan still managed to make a career-high 39 tackles.

In three seasons as a backup linebacker, he has racked up 101 tackles - including nine for loss and two sacks - and notched three pass breakups, four quarterback hurries and one forced fumble on 490 career snaps.

Where Morgan has made an even bigger impact on special teams, playing on virtually every unit and seeing his snaps rise from 167 to 189 and finally to 220 last season. Although many will probably remember him for being the player who didn’t tackle the returner on North Texas’ infamous fake fair catch play, he has been pretty solid in football’s third phase.

Last season, Morgan earned a team-high 84.1 grade on special teams. That also ranked second in the SEC among 59 players with at least 160 special teams snaps and fifth in the Power Five among 119 players with at least 200 snaps.

As we wrote in Hayden Henry’s breakdown last week, linebacker depth has been a frequent topic of discussion this offseason in what feels like a yearly tradition. The graduation of De’Jon Harris creates an even larger hole at the position.

Bumper Pool appears to be the only lock to be a starter this season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Morgan begin this month’s walk-throughs or next month’s fall camp as the starting middle linebacker, but the Razorbacks are hoping Oklahoma graduate transfer Levi Draper - a former four-star recruit who played sparingly for the Sooners - will step up and be a significant contributor.

Morgan will likely get his fair share of snaps on defense, but arguably his biggest role this season - along with Hayden Henry - will be helping bring along young, inexperienced guys like Andrew Parker, Zach Zimos and Kelin Burrle.

He’ll probably also continue to be a special teams ace for the Razorbacks, as he’ll take advantage of any opportunity to get on the field as a fifth-year senior.

It’s also worth noting that his older brother, Drew Morgan, completely exceeded expectations during his career and stepped up in a huge way because of injuries at the wide receiver position, so you can’t completely dismiss the idea of Grant being a major contributor - or even starter - at linebacker.

Despite having a stellar high school career that included winning a state championship and earning Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Defensive Player of the Year honors, Morgan was lightly recruited coming out of Greenwood, much like his older brother.

Unlike Drew, though, Grant didn’t have any Power Five options and had just one FBS offer - from a service academy, Air Force, at that. Several FCS and Division II schools were recruiting him, but Morgan chose to accept a preferred walk-on spot at Arkansas.

Not only was he a two-star prospect on Rivals, but Morgan had a 5.3 rating, meaning he wasn’t even a high two-star (5.4).

MORE: Razorback Roster Rundown