Benjamin Morrison waited until a workout Monday at his high school alma mater to show his physical progress from last fall’s left hip surgery.

Four days later, the former Notre Dame cornerback became a second-round pick in the NFL Draft. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Morrison with the No. 53 overall pick.

Morrison’s health concerns didn’t prevent him from being Notre Dame’s first selection in this year’s draft. He also became the first Notre Dame cornerback drafted as early as the second round since Bobby Taylor in 1995.

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Morrison, who signed with Notre Dame as a recruit out of Phoenix Brophy Prep, will make the leap to the NFL just as his father, Daryl Morrison, did when he was selected in the sixth round of the 1993 draft. The elder Morrison played four seasons with the NFL’s Washington franchise before eventually returning to his hometown of Phoenix with his family and becoming the pastor at Valley Gate Church.

If Benjamin Morrison’s NFL career starts like his college career, he should have a longer tenure in pro football than his father. Morrison made his first career start at Notre Dame in the third game of his freshman season. He played in all 13 games and started nine on the way to earning multiple Freshman All-America selections. Morrison was the only player on Notre Dame’s roster to record more than one interception that season, and he managed to pick off six passes. Morrison broke up four more passes and made 33 tackles in his breakout freshman season.

Morrison couldn’t match his interception total as a sophomore in 2023, but he remained a crucial part of the top-ranked passing efficiency defense in the country. Morrison started 11 more games and played in 12 with 31 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions and 10 pass breakups.

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The 6-foot, 193-pound Morrison received Preseason All-American accolades heading into his junior season last year, but he only managed to play in six games. Morrison left the sixth game, a 49-7 win over Stanford on Oct. 12, early with a hip injury, which eventually required surgery to repair a torn labrum. He totaled 20 tackles and four pass breakups before his season was cut short.

Morrison still opted to leave Notre Dame early and enter the NFL Draft pool following his junior season. He finished his career with 84 tackles, nine interceptions, 18 pass breakups and 4.5 tackles for loss.

Morrison insisted he was healthy earlier this year, but he opted to not go through testing and workouts at the NFL Scouting Combine and Notre Dame’s Pro Day. He used the extra time to prepare for Monday’s workout at Brophy Prep, which didn’t include a 40-yard dash. Morrison focused on football movements instead.

Rivals, who rated Morrison as a four-star recruit, ranked Morrison as the No. 30 cornerback in the 2022 recruiting class. On Friday, Morrison became the fifth cornerback selected in this year’s draft class.

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