Van Ness is a good (not great) player, but I would not have given him a first-round grade for a lot of reasons (listed below), and with so much talent still left on the boards at positions of need for the Packers, this seems like a reckless luxury pick for a team that should be acquiring as many true cornerstone players as possible.
Height: 6′ 4¾” (71st percentile) Weight: 272 (70th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.58 (91st)
10-Yard Split: 1.64 (50th)
Bench Press: 17 reps (8th)
Vertical Jump: 31″ (24th)
Broad Jump: 118″ (63rd)
3-Cone Drill: 7.02 (80th)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.32 (75th)
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 34″ (69th)
Hand Size: 11″ (97th)
Bio: A football and hockey star at Barrington High in Barrington, Illinois, Van Ness redshirted in 2020 and made the field for the 2021 season, showing impressive productivity right away. He stood out even more last season, despite the fact that he never actually started a game — more a product of Iowa’s particular thoughts on that process than any kind of ding on Van Ness’s athletic potential or on-field productivity.
Over two seasons with the Hawkeyes, Van Ness totaled 13 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 45 quarterback hurries, one batted pass, 33 tackles, and 32 stops. He had 533 snaps in the B-gaps, 262 outside the tackles, 69 in the A-gaps, 62 over the tackles, and 14 in the box.
Stat to Know: Two of Van Ness’ sacks, and 18 of his 48 total pressures, came from the defensive tackle positions last season.
Strengths: Whether inside or outside, Van Ness has a great ability to rock blockers right off their feet with short-area agility, and impressive speed-to-power moves with a great long-arm move. He will push you back and get to the quarterback with pure power moves.
Van Ness can also stack and shed very well, and he brings nice speed to the pocket once he’s free.
He’s also aware enough in space to stop and run, and occasionally snuff out a screen pass.
Weaknesses: Van Ness is primarily a straight-ahead power disruptor; there isn’t a lot of bend or flexibility around the arc to his game. Northwestern left tackle Peter Skoronski could handle his power stuff, and aside from running away from Skoronski to the quarterback, Van Ness didn’t have a counter.
Conclusion: Van Ness’ NFL value will depend pretty heavily on how he’s deployed. Selecting him as a pure edge guy might be a mistake unless you’re really wanting him to use that power, and you think he’ll be able to get away with that snap after snap. It would be much better for his future were he used as an occasional edge defender against the pass and the run, mixed with a copious amount of end work in five-man fronts, or simply slipping inside in sub-packages. Van Ness is more good from multiple gaps than he is great from any one. There’s value to that, but you have to know how to unleash it.
NFL Comparison: George Karlaftis. I feel that I could be wrong about Van Ness in the same way I was wrong about Karlaftis if Van Ness winds up in the right system for his talents, as Karlaftis did when the Chiefs took him with the 30th overall pick in the 2022 draft out of Purdue. At 6-foot-4 and 263 pounds, Karlaftis was more of a power guy with a few moves inside and outside as opposed to a flexible edge disruptor, and the Chiefs did the smart thing by moving him around the line and allowing him to feast in blitz packages. Van Ness might transcend his occasionally limited college tape with the same kinds of NFL benefits.
