The Green Bay Packers stuck to their board with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 draft and took Iowa edge rusher Lukas Van Ness.
Van Ness plays a premium position, and with Preston Smith set to turn 31 this year and Rashan Gary coming off an ACL injury, this pick made sense for multiple reasons. Of course, we knew the Packers would take an impressive athlete in the first, and Van Ness happened to log a 9.39 RAS.
Want to learn more about Van Ness, who, despite not starting a single game in two seasons at Iowa, still managed to tally 13.0 sacks and 19.0 tackles for loss? Here’s what several prominent draft analysts said about Van Ness during the pre-draft process:
Dane Brugler, The Athletic (draft guide): “Coming off the bench at Iowa, Van Ness was primarily an edge rusher in defensive coordinator Phil Parker’s four-man front, but he also saw significant snaps inside over the B-gap. The Iowa coaches reward seniority, so John Waggoner and Joe Evans started at defensive end last season, but Van Ness had more defensive snaps than either and led the Hawkeyes in tackles for loss and sacks. Regardless of alignment, Van Ness has high-end tools with his length and play strength, which allow him to wear down blockers as a pass rusher or stack, locate and play off blocks in the run game. A hockey player most of his life, he credits his time on the ice for developing his balance, urgent play style and competitive toughness. Overall, Van Ness needs coached up with his pass-rush construction and overall pacing, but he is an ascending player and competes like a grizzly bear with his fierce power and explosive twitch. He has the upside of an impactful NFL starter with inside/outside versatility, regardless of scheme.”
Daniel Jeremiah, NFL.com: “Van Ness is a powerful defensive lineman with the versatility to stand up on the edge or slide inside and play over the guard. He is excellent at collapsing the pocket with his bull rush, getting his hands inside and driving opponents back with ease. He flashes a chop move and a rip move, but needs to develop a more diverse repertoire. Against the run, he has very strong hands to stack blocks on the front side and his effort/speed combination helps him make plays from the back side. For some reason, he didn’t start at Iowa. That doesn’t make any sense. Overall, Van Ness has ideal traits, and his best football is ahead of him.”
Lance Zierlein, NFL.com: “Nicknamed “Hercules” by teammates, Van Ness is a well-developed defensive end with excellent lean mass and additional growth still to come. He’s a power-centric prospect with force as his modus operandi as both a run defender and pass rusher. Van Ness needs to work on hand attacks for quicker block shedding and to diversify his rush beyond bull-rush challenges. He’s taken snaps inside at Iowa but might need to keep filling out his frame before he’s ready to succeed as a run stuffer and pass rusher as a 4i in a 3-4 front. Van Ness is more of a splash player than consistent force on tape, but he possesses projectable traits that should allow for continued ascension as a pro.”
Mike Renner, Pro Football Focus (draft guide): “Lukas Van Ness is as strong as they come in terms of pass-rushing ability. Known for his power rush, he was able to generate 46 pressures and nine sacks this past season for the Hawkeyes. He is one of the reasons Iowa had such a dominant defense. Van Ness is also better against the run than most defensive ends in his class, finishing with an 80.9 run-defense grade in 2022. If he can continue to improve his pass-rushing moves, look out for him at the next level.
Bleacher Report Scouting Department: “Lukas Van Ness might be one of the most interesting draft projections in this year’s class. As a redshirt sophomore who didn’t log a single start in college, it was a bit of a surprise that he didn’t opt to go back to school. But he’s been getting first-round love because of his physical traits. Van Ness already has an NFL-ready body and can be an absolute bear in the trenches. He’s strong and physical at the point of attack, which gives offensive linemen a lot of trouble in pass protection and the ground game. Iowa also used him up and down the defensive line, so he can play multiple spots as well. However, he’s inferior athletically to a lot of other top edge-defenders in this year’s draft class. That seemed to limit the Hawkeye’s pass-rush arsenal to power moves and can cause him to lose contain against athletic quarterbacks. It will be important for him to put up some good numbers at the combine to show he can at least grow in that department.”
The Draft Network: “Lukas Van Ness grew up playing hockey and started playing football in the eighth grade. After redshirting in 2020, Van Ness spent 2021 as more of an interior defensive lineman before playing primarily on the edge in 2022. That transition started during spring practices in 2022. There’s so much to like about Van Ness and it starts with his functional strength. His ability to convert speed to power and play through blockers is outstanding. He maximizes his ability to bull rush and collapse the pocket with plus length, timing, and functional power to truly stress the anchor of offensive linemen. For a player of his body composition, I’m surprised by how much burst and flexibility he has to get off the ball, corner, flatten, and close. A B-gap defender in 2021, Van Ness is playing primarily on the edge and still getting chances to reduce inside. He should be able to bring that type of inside/outside versatility to an NFL defensive line, making him a wide-ranging fit, especially for the amount of fronts in today’s NFL that are multiple. Van Ness is a high-ceiling prospect that is still only scratching the surface of what he can become as a defensive playmaker. Despite being a highly attractive prospect, Van Ness never started a game for the Hawkeyes’ defense—although he received a significant amount of playing time in a rotational role. While he has all the power, length, and movement skills to be an outstanding run defender, his block recognition skills have room to improve so he can be more consistent fitting the run and leveraging gaps. Van Ness has a strong foundation as a pass rusher but he needs to continue to build his repertoire of moves off his length and power. He should become even more dynamic as he develops his vision to read the set of blockers and his technique becomes second nature. Van Ness has the makings of an impact starter in the NFL where he has a high ceiling to develop into. His room for growth makes him even more exciting given his relative newness to playing on the edge.”
33rd Team: “Lukas Van Ness is a tall, athletic and powerful defensive end who provides versatility to align off the edge or condensed inside. His long levers and relentless motor allow him to pressure the backfield and disrupt the run game. He has a high ceiling and will just need time on the job to refine his pass rush repertoire.”
