Why the Lions should draft Donovan Ezeiruaku with the 28th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, explosive is the key word

The 2025 NFL Draft is next week, and with that in mind, we're going to zero in on the 28th pick and profile some of the players that best fit the Detroit Lions at that pick. Here's who we've covered so far: North Dakota State offensive lineman Grey ZabelTexas A&M edge Nic ScourtonTexas receiver Matthew […]

Mike Payton Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Donovan Ezeiruaku
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The 2025 NFL Draft is next week, and with that in mind, we're going to zero in on the 28th pick and profile some of the players that best fit the Detroit Lions at that pick. Here's who we've covered so far:

Ask any Lions fan what they wanted the most coming in this offseason. I'd venture to guess that 95% of them would tell you that they want someone on the opposite side of Aidan Hutchinson who can get to the quarterback. We've already talked about Texas A&M's Nic Scourton, now we jump to Boston College's Donovan Ezeiruaku. 

He's coming off a monster season with 60 pressers and 14 sacks and won the Ted Hendricks award for best college football's best defensive end. He was also a consensus All-American. 

The thing to love here is the explosive bend he uses to get around offensive linemen and the 34-inch arms he uses to help him with that. You also have to love that he's a multi-time team captain. Something the Lions love. They might also love that he's played 36 straight games without an injury. 

On the negative side, the wrap on Ezeiruaku is that he doesn't have the best speed, and there are concerns that mobile quarterbacks can evade him easily in the backfield. The good news is that not every quarterback is a mobile guy; the bad news is that Lions fans who were hoping to find a way to stop the mobile guys might not be too excited about this. 

The last thing is his size at 6-foot-2 and 248 pounds. That might scare some teams off, but it's not going to move the Lions since they have proven time and again that they don't care a lot about the measurables unless they're insane or something. They care about what the player can bring to the table, and Ezeiruaku brings a lot of what they like.