Packer Central

A Jeff Hafley Reunion for Packers in New Sports Illustrated Mock Draft

The Green Bay Packers need to fix their pass rush. Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku finished second in the nation in sacks in 2024.

Bill Huber

Boston College defensive lineman Donovan Ezeiruaku (DL47) participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Combine.
Boston College defensive lineman Donovan Ezeiruaku (DL47) participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Combine. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – No introductions would be needed.

In a new mock draft at Sports Illustrated, the Green Bay Packers upgraded their pass rush with Donovan Ezeiruaku.

Ezeiruaku played at Boston College. His head coach for his first three seasons? Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.

“Green Bay needs pass-rush help, and not only can Ezeiruaku provide it, but he already knows the scheme in which he’d be playing, likely lessening the learning curve,” SI.com’s Daniel Flick wrote as part of his breakdown.

Ezeiruaku was dominant in 2024. He was the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year, a consensus All-American and winner of the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s best defensive end. He set a school record with 16.5 sacks and added 21 tackles for losses – second- and fourth-best in the nation, respectively – to work himself into the first-round mix.

“Might see some tears. I can’t lie, might see some tears,” Ezeiruaku said at pro day when asked about being drafted. “But it’ll be very surreal, a dream come true, for sure.”

“Anywhere is a blessing,” he added. “If it’s the 24th [of April for the first round] or the 25th [of April for the second round], whatever the case may be, as long as my foot is in the door, I can’t complain.”

Ezeiruaku certainly wouldn’t complain about being reunited with Hafley.

“I spoke to them over the phone not too long ago,” he said at the Scouting Combine. “And it'd just be like a reunion from high school, honestly. Getting recruited from high school to college. I was with them for three years, so it wouldn't be weird at all. It wouldn't be a surprise at all. I had a lot of respect for those guys. It's always open communication. That's a bond and the connection that we built for life, not just for my time in college.”

Former NFL coach Bill O’Brien replaced Hafley in 2024.

“He won us a couple games single-handedly,” O’Brien said at pro day. “Can’t say enough great things about him.” 

Green Bay’s pass rush ran hot and cold last season, and Ezeiruaku is one of the best prospects in the draft. He had 30 sacks and eight forced fumbles for his career, including 8.5 sacks and three forced fumbles with Hafley in 2022.

However, the Packers might deem him undersized at 6-foot-2 1/2 and 248 pounds. The better fits in the draft, Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart and Georgia’s Mykel Williams, went in the top 15.

The Vikings at No. 24 took a safety and the Lions at No. 28 took a pass rusher.

What about the receivers? Other than Arizona’s Tet McMillan, who went ninth in this mock, they were all available to the Packers. Texas’ Matthew Golden joined McMillan as the only first-round receivers.

Click here for the full mock.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.