Lukas Van Ness Biding His Time

Lukas Van Ness has not been running with the starters during the early portions of camp but he began to make his mark with his first big opportunity on Saturday

Lukas Van Ness (Mark Hoffman/USA Today Sports Images)

Green Bay Packers rookie Lukas Van Ness has high expectations placed on him.

That comes with being a first-round pick for any team.

That’s especially true when you’re a player picked inside the top-15 of the NFL Draft. 

It becomes even more pronounced when you come with a nickname of that of a Greek god. 

Those expectations heighten even more when that player was targeted by the team’s general manager

Part of the sweetener for the trade that sent Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets was a pick swap in the first round.

With the trade, the Packers moved from 15 to 13. Those two spots might seem negligible, but Gutekunst didn’t think so.

Before the draft, the New England Patriots, set to pick 14th, hosted Van Ness on a predraft visit.

Did Gutekunst want to move from 15 to 13 to give himself a better chance to land the Iowa pass rusher? 

We’ll never truly know the answer to that question, but Gutekunst shed some light on the possibility before the draft.

“If I were to do that,” he said of moving from 15th to 13th, “I'd be doing it because I thought it were important." Gutekunst said shortly before the trade was completed

One thing is clear: The Packers clearly valued Van Ness. Gutekunst has placed a high value on rushing the passer since taking over as the general manager.

The biggest free-agent contracts of his tenure were given to Za’Darius and Preston Smith in the spring of 2019.

He would triple down on that position by selecting Rashan Gary with the 12th overall pick. While that rotation never met its full potential, Van Ness is now the player the Packers envision taking over as a long-term sidekick to Gary, whom they likely hope to sign to a long-term extension this season.

Early on, Van Ness has mostly run with the backups. His reps as a starter have been rare. Van Ness isn't concerned yet. 

"It’s just the rotation we have, throwing guys out there and giving them a chance to compete for an opportunity,” Van Ness said on Saturday. 

“So far, [position coach Jason] Rebrovich says stay at his hip and when a guy is ready to go out, make sure you’re ready. Every time you get that opportunity, make it a good one. To me, it doesn’t mean anything – first, second third-team reps – they’re all valuable opportunities to go out there and play.”

If Van Ness wants inspiration, he could look to his teammate. Gary was a first-round pick that followed a similar trajectory.

Gary didn't start as a rookie. In fact, he wasn’t even the first guy off the bench that season. That honor went to Kyler Fackrell, who had a career-high 10 sacks the season prior to Gary’s rookie year.

Gary would play 248 snaps as a rookie. He never played more than 31 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in a game.

Van Ness is in a slightly different situation. He’s clearly behind some of the players in front of him, but the 2019 team was looking to compete for a Super Bowl.

Za’Darius and Preston Smith played 934 and 932 snaps, respectively. There wasn’t much room for a rotation.

That’ll be where things are different for Van Ness. The focus has mostly been on the youth movement taking place on offense. It's not as pronounced, but a youth movement is happening on defense, as well. 

Gary may come off the PUP list before the end of training camp but is likely to be on a pitch count to start the season.

Preston Smith, Kingsley Enagbare and Justin Hollins will get snaps. as well. Van Ness, however, has the highest upside and most positional versatility of the outside linebackers. 

Van Ness also can kick inside and find snaps there when he’s not playing on the edge.

On Friday, it appeared Van Ness had passed La'Darius Hamilton to move into the second unit. Prior to Saturday’s practice, LaFleur told reporters he didn’t want anyone to worry about the depth chart. 

“The depth chart right now is not important,” LaFleur said. “Focus on your job, effort, and knowing the details.”

The depth chart might not be important, but seeing reps against starters stand out more than reps against the third-string players.

On Saturday, Van Ness was the starter across from Preston Smith in the 2-minute drill.

He made his first big play of camp on Saturday as well. The Packers ran a zone-read with Jordan Love that Van Ness was able to disrupt. He threw lead blocker Josiah Deguara into Love’s path, and the play was blown dead.

It was a glimpse of the power and athleticism that made him the 13th overall pick.

The Packers hope it’s the first of many glimpses to come.

The team will practice in pads for the first time Monday. If Van Ness can make more plays in pads like the one he did on Saturday, more opportunities will come.

More Green Bay Packers News

Get to know Cody Chrest, a #Packers shareholder with one heck of a story.https://t.co/9Zn9vPtZZc https://t.co/ueBrk2doNm

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 30, 2023

Highlights from Practice 4 of Packers training camp

Saturday LaFleur: Playing the slots

Unofficial Packers training camp depth charts

David Bakhtiari adjusts to new practice schedule

Tarvarius Moore speeds into battle at safety

Friday LaFleur: Bigger role for Deguara?