Packer Central

Deeper Dive Into Packers’ First-Round Pick Lukas Van Ness

Take a deeper look at Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness, the first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – With their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday night, the Green Bay Packers selected Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness.

Here is a closer look at the 13th overall selection.

Measureables: 6-5, 272 pounds, 34-inch arms. 4.58 40, 4.32 shuttle, 9.39 Relative Athletic Score.

Stats and accolades: Van Ness played only two seasons for the Hawkeyes, recording 13.5 sacks, 19.5 tackles for losses and zero forced fumbles. He was second-team all-Big Ten in 2022 with 6.5 sacks and 11 TFLs. He also blocked two punts. He never started a game for the upperclassman-driven program.

Analytical stats: Of 77 edge defenders with at least 250 pass-rushing snaps, he ranked 16th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap. Of 90 players with 200 run-defending snaps, he ranked 12th in average depth per tackle. Of 100 players with 410 total snaps, he ranked 63rd in missed-tackle percentage.

Of 32 edge defenders ranked by Sports Info Solutions, he ranked seventh in true pressure rate (pressures on pure dropbacks), last in hand-on-ball percentage (forced fumble, fumble recovery, deflection, interception) and first in bounce rate (percentage of times he forced the ball-carrier to a different gap). He forced three holding penalties.

How he fits: Van Ness and Rashan Gary aren’t exactly similar prospects but, it’s worth noting, both players are big, both players are explosive and both players entered the NFL with more upside than proven production. Green Bay’s first-round pick in 2019, Gary was far from a finished product as he waited behind Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith. Van Ness would have to bide his time behind Gary and Preston Smith. But the power and explosiveness are there to be an immediate contributor. As was the case with Gary, the best is yet to come.

“I have the ability to play all over the defensive line” he said at the Scouting Combine. “As you know, last year I played defensive tackle. And then this year, I played a little bit more defensive end. But I believe I bring everything in terms to the table in terms of in terms of playing the run and playing the pass. …

“Playing on our side of the conference in the Big Ten West, we had a lot of running games, so you had to love the run. And it was one of the favorite parts of the game for me, getting to line up from the guy across from you, coming out of your hips and blowing them up and setting the edge. It's definitely one of my favorite parts of the game.”

Athlon says: He flashes explosive speed, firing off the snap and getting to the quarterback when asked to come around on twists. He also has the closing burst and length to finish plays consistently. He can beat blockers off the edge or on the interior, using short-area quickness and heavy hands to go with his length. There's enough bend and flexibility in his body to turn the corner as an edge-bending rusher.

Personal touch: Van Ness is from Barrington, Ill., and grew up playing hockey as well as football. His nickname is “Hercules,” a name given to him by a teammate, defensive tackle Noah Shannon.

“I think it’s a great nickname,” Van Ness said in August. “I even remember watching some of those mythical movies when I was younger. It just gives me a laugh to sometimes be compared to someone like Hercules.”

His father is a chiropractor who’s helped Van Ness stay healthy through two rugged sports.

“I’ve worked with four first-round picks in the last four drafts, and I’ve seen nothing but first-round film on Lukas,” Eddy McGilvra, who is working with Van Ness during the predraft process, just as he did with Aidan Hutchinson last year, told Hawk Central. “He’s a Day 1 starter in the NFL with the work ethic and traits to be a Pro Bowler over the years. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t go in the first 20 to 25 picks of this year’s draft.”

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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.

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