Tampa Bay Buccaneers select Benjamin Morrison in second round of 2025 NFL Draft

Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison is officially heading to the NFL. He heard his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Morrison in the second round of the draft. He suffered a season-ending injury at Notre Dame in 2024, but still heads into the league as one of the top cornerbacks on the board.

Morrison appeared in just six games in 2024 before going down with a hip injury, but was coming off two impressive seasons anchoring the Notre Dame secondary. He burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2022 with six interceptions – including a touchdown – along with 33 total tackles. That helped him earn Freshman All-American honors.

In 2023, Morrison built off that strong debut campaign. He had 31 tackles, including four tackles for loss, while also hauling in three interceptions. He then had 20 tackles in six games in 2024 before going down with the injury against Stanford.

Morrison played high school football at Phoenix (Ariz.) Brophy College Preparatory, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 342 overall player from the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Benjamin Morrison

Despite missing most of the season with the hip injury, Benjamin Morrison entered the 2025 NFL Draft as an intriguing cornerback prospect. He came in as NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah’s No. 40 overall prospect with just a couple weeks to go until draft day. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had Morrison going No. 46 overall to the Atlanta Falcons in his final mock draft.

According to NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, Morrison has the ball skills to make an impact in the secondary. He still has things to work on, such as his footwork, but could still be effective cornerback in the NFL.

“Linear outside cornerback whose eye-catching ball production must be balanced out by his inconsistencies in coverage,” Zierlein wrote. “Morrison would appear to be a natural press corner, but he lacks ideal footwork to mirror and match not only the release but the initial route breaks.

“He has below-average coverage fluidity in open spaces and appears to be more effective covering the deep ball than shadowing routes on the first two levels. Morrison is more patient from off coverages and takes efficient paths to the throw, so a more zone-oriented scheme could make sense, while helping to minimize areas of concern.”