INDIANAPOLIS — Benjamin Morrison arrived at his podium nearly one hour after he was scheduled to speak to reporters Thursday as part of his NFL Scouting Combine process in Indianapolis.
The former Notre Dame cornerback wasn’t late because he lacked punctuality. The extensive medical examination he went through at IU Health Methodist Hospital delayed his arrival at the Indiana Convention Center.
Morrison, who chose to leave Notre Dame following a junior season that was cut short by an October hip surgery, received one of 329 invitations to participate in the NFL Combine, but the experience has been a bit different than he once imagined.
“As you see, I’m the only DB here right now because I obviously had the surgery,” Morrison said. “So mine’s gonna be a little more closely looked at. It’s been tough. It’s been challenging. You can second-guess yourself a little bit. It’s a roller coaster.
“I’m just in the van getting transported over here and I’m in my head like, dang, this is tough. I dreamed of coming to the combine and things of that nature, and I’m here, but now this is hard. It’s hard on the mind.
“I’m 20 years old. Everything I want is in front of me. Then I just feel like every single time it’s there, I just have some type of setback. But I know that each setback is gonna pull me back farther, farther to just catapult me forward. I know that something great is on the horizon.”
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Morrison showed plenty of greatness in 31 games across three seasons at Notre Dame. He received Freshman All-America honors in 2022. He was named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to college football’s top defensive back, in 2023. Then he landed on several preseason All-America teams ahead of the 2024 season, for which he was named a Notre Dame captain.
But Morrison’s bright future came with a helping of question marks after a hip injury ended his junior season after six games. He could only watch as the Irish made a run to the CFP National Championship Game, which ended in a 34-23 loss to Ohio State.
“I feel like this is the most challenging year of my life,” Morrison said. “I was being quite honest. I've had the highest of the highs, and then you're faced with these trials and you really have to look yourself in the mirror and figure out who you are as a man. I think this all will be a blessing disguise with this injury and with where I'm at in life right now.
“So, I think for me it's just like, all right, look, you've been dealt this hand this year. How are you going to respond? And I can't allow it to defeat me. I got to come out on top, and it just grew the love of the game for myself actually, just because being on the sideline, it's a little different. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't envious of my teammates out there playing the national championship. I mean, as a competitor, that's what you want to do. That's why you work in the offseason so hard.
“I wanted to be out there, but at the day I had to support them, and that's what really allowed me to understand how much I love this game because I was willing to sit on the sideline and cheer my guys on and help them on because Coach [Marcus] Freeman always preached about team glory. And I believe in that.”
Well before Notre Dame’s season ended, Morrison made the decision that he would press forward and chase a career in the NFL, where his father, Darryl, played four seasons in Washington, D.C. After Morrison learned the timeline of recovery from his injury, he determined he could still show NFL personnel his potential before the NFL Draft, which will be held April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisc. That won’t happen this week at the combine. It won’t even happen at Notre Dame’s Pro Day, which is typically held in March. Morrison is planning to hold a private workout at a date to be determined for NFL decision makers.
A little more than a month ago, Morrison was cleared by Dr. Marc Philippon, who performed his surgery in October, in Vail, Colo., to start ramping up his training. Morrison spent the last few weeks doing so in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with a focus on his private workout that should occur in April.
“Just allow the teams to come out and see what I already know about myself,” Morrison said, “but allow 'em to see it for them.”
Morrison doesn’t yet know everything that he’ll do in that private workout, but it will include the 40-yard dash.
“They’re gonna want to see me run,” Morrison said. “And I know I can run. I’m not gonna set a time of my exact 40, but I know I can run.”
Morrison still plans to attend Notre Dame’s Pro Day with his former teammates just like he’s attending this week’s combine.
“I mean at the end of the day, Notre Dame gave me so much that I'm in forever debt to that university just because of the people I've been around, the people who they surrounded me with,” Morrison said. “I'm going to be at their day supporting my guys. At end of the day, it's a team sport, and I wouldn't be where I'm at if it wasn't for those type of guys and for the coaching staff up there. So, I'm going to be there as many days I need to be there, even if that means I've got push my pro day back a little later, because I wouldn't want anything more to cheer on my teammates.”
The pre-draft process will require Morrison to highlight himself as an individual in addition to what he did with his teammates. He should have plenty to highlight with nine interceptions, 18 pass breakups, 84 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss.
Even though Morrison’s junior season was short, he doesn’t feel like he has to sell himself more than others who were healthy last season.
“No, because I think my tape doesn’t lie,” Morrison said. “You gotta look at what I’ve done, all my productivity. The things I accomplished in two and a half years can take guys four to five years. I don’t feel as if I gotta sell myself. My main priority right now is to get fully healthy and show the scouts what they want to see. I don’t think I gotta sell myself on my film or nothing like that.”
Two-time All-America safety Xavier Watts, Morrison’s former ND teammate, will gladly provide a scouting report.
“B-Mo’s my guy,” Watts said Thursday. “He’s a really good football player. I’m gonna give you a whole breakdown. He’s 6-foot. He’s probably 195, 190. He’s got really long arms. He’s got good technique. He’s really patient. He can come up and make tackles if he needs to. He’s an amazing cover guy.”
Various NFL Draft analysts ranked Morrison somewhere between the No. 2 cornerback prospect and the No. 7 cornerback prospect in this year’s draft call. That should mean Morrison will likely get selected in the first three rounds of the draft.
Morrison knows he has room to improve his run defense and a habit of being handsy when covering receivers, but he’s confident those things will be fixed over time. He’s still growing as a football player, even if he can’t show his latest progress quite yet.
Morrison’s track record will be hard to forget. Like when he helped limited wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to three catches for 32 yards in a 17-14 loss to Ohio State in 2023. Harrison was the No. 4 overall pick in last year’s draft.
“That was a very high caliber player,” Morrison said. “We all know what he did in college, and what he did in the NFL. He’s gonna be an amazing receiver for years to come. I also understood that was going to be an opportunity to really put my name on the map.
“I had a remarkable freshman year, but why not go stamp on a national stage like that and let the world know what I already know? That’s what I went in with in that game.
“A lot of guys can get into the mindset of getting caught up in who you play. But at the end of the day, my mindset is you gotta go against me really. So, it doesn’t really matter who you are.”
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