(WFRV) – For the first time in years, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur introduced the role of captains. Seven were named prior to this past season, including three on offense and defense, as well as a member of special teams. That final selection was 2021 draft pick Isaiah McDuffie.
The soon-to-be sixth-year Packer has always been a consistent part of Green Bay’s linebacking core, racking up at least 80 total tackles and 45 individual tackles over his last three seasons. The 2025 year was no different, as McDuffie ranked fifth in tackles with 92.
Rich Bisaccia stepping down as special teams coordinator
“I felt like year five was a great season,” said McDuffie. “It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but I think we did a lot of positive things.”
McDuffie’s production before this past season earned him a two-year contract extension worth eight million dollars. That deal was well worth it for the Green and Gold, as the former Boston College Eagle played in every game this past season.
McDuffie even filled in for Quay Walker as the on-field defensive play caller, wearing the green dot on his helmet and relaying the information from the coaching staff when Walker missed November’s game against the Vikings.
“It’s just coming into work every day, putting your head down,” said Green Bay’s linebacker. “Coming in with a positive attitude and a positive mindset. To me, I feel like the day you feel like you can’t get better is the day you become complacent, and then it’s probably over for you, in my opinion.”
That’s a mindset McDuffie has approached each year with, keeping his standards high every time he walks onto the practice field.
“For me, I feel like overall, and in every aspect, I can get better,” said McDuffie.
An undeniable willingness to learn and grow that played a role in one of Isaiah’s favorite moments from this last season. The fifth-year pro entered the season without an interception, and the last time he picked off a pass was during his senior year of college.
That changed toward the back end of the season when Rashan Gary hit Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s arm in the middle of a throw, forcing the pass to wobble in the air in the direction of McDuffie.
“The year before, I dropped two (INTs), and I dropped one against the Vikings,” said McDuffie. “Every day after that, I got on the jugs machine after practice. You have all the receivers over there, and then you just have a linebacker, and it’s funny, but they embraced me over there.”
Add that to the pair of half-sacks he tallied, and the former sixth-round selection had a career year, notching his first NFL interception and marking the first time in his pro career that he totaled at least one sack.
McDuffie even added that he hopes that interception isn’t his last, and now that he’s gotten a taste of what it’s like, he wants at least one next year, or maybe even two.
A season in 2026 that the linebacker said he’s itching for, especially with how this past year ended.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m completely over it,” said McDuffie about the wild-card loss to the Bears.
“I’m over it in the sense that you have to move on, but it’s more motivation now than anything. I know I have a bad taste in my mouth, and I know a lot of guys in that locker room have a bad taste in their mouth, and they’re just ready to get back after it.”
Now, that bad taste isn’t just exclusive to that final loss in Chicago. The Packers ended the year on a five-game losing streak, meaning Green Bay’s last win came all the way back on Dec. 7.
McDuffie added that also doesn’t sit with him well, and he and the rest of the team know what they need to improve in order to solve that glaring problem from the end of the year.
“We just have to finish. At the end of the day, how we started the season and how we ended was not what we wanted because we didn’t finish,” said McDuffie.
That was a common theme the entire season, as Green Bay became the first team in league history to lose three games in one year despite leading by double figures with under five minutes remaining.
“If you finish, you get to hold that trophy at the end of the year,” said the fifth-year Packers linebacker. “That’s why we do all this stuff now in OTAs and in the offseason. It’s to hold up that Lombardi Trophy at the end of the year, so we just have to finish.”
Now, even though the inability to finish games spans far before this past season, McDuffie believes the current players in Green Bay’s locker room have what it takes to get the job done.
“I just feel like we have a great core of guys,” said McDuffie. “I feel like we’re getting older as a team. We’ve played a lot of snaps together and built more chemistry, and at the end of the day, I feel like that helps you win more games, especially later in the season.
“When things start getting hard, the more veteran guys start stepping up and can help the team get to where we want to be at the end of the day.”
As he enters his sixth season in the NFL, McDuffie is a part of that veteran core, and he hopes to guide the Packers to a title by this time next year. He added just how appreciative he is to call Green Bay home and that he loves coming into work each day because everyone in the building feels like family. That atmosphere is even more of a reason why the linebacker wants to hoist a Super Bowl trophy in Titletown.
But it will come with a tougher challenge, as McDuffie is set to learn his third different defense since being drafted. That comes after defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who also coached Isaiah in college, accepted the head coaching role in Miami.
“It’s definitely tough seeing him leave because that’s my guy, but at the end of the day, you have to be happy for him,” said McDuffie. “I just love him, and I’m super happy for him because, for him and his family, that’s huge.”
He expressed the same sentiments for former linebackers coach Sean Duggan, who joined Hafley with the Dolphins, but added that he’s excited for the challenge, despite not hearing from new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon or LBs coach Sam Siefkes yet.
“It’s just being intentional and trying to learn all the details and the intricacies of the defense,” said McDuffie on the new defensive scheme under Gannon. “Not just seeing the small picture, but seeing the big picture of how every piece of the defense incorporates with each other.”
Now, until OTAs in May, when McDuffie meets the new staff in person, he is back in his hometown of Buffalo, where he and his wife reside outside of the season to be closer to family. Isaiah told Local 5 he still works with the same trainer he’s had since his sophomore year of high school, noting how that regimen got him this far, so why change it?
Packers’ Super Bowl XLV win remembered ahead of Local 5 Sports Xtra
It will also be a memorable offseason for the soon-to-be sixth-year Packer, as he and his wife, Nashalie, welcome their first child in a few months.
“Every day seems more real,” said McDuffie. “It’s just crazy, and I’m just super excited.”
