The Green Bay Packers didn’t make a massive splash with their first-round pick in 2023, but they are more than happy with the progress that Lukas Van Ness has made in his short time with Green Bay.
The Packers took Van Ness with the 13th overall pick in this year’s draft. His versatility and eagerness to help the team win are earning him rave reviews from the Green Bay coaching staff, including Packers pass rush specialist Jason Rebrovich.
“He possesses everything that we’re looking for. His height, weight, speed – all those tangible things,” Rebrovich said.
“He’s very open and he’s played multiple positions when he was in college, so he has a lot of good background with the things we’re asking him to do early on.”
Van Ness spent most of his time in college playing along the defensive line, though the Packers have him listed as a linebacker on their roster. His frame and ability to play anywhere on the field drew him to a lot of teams and ultimately landed him with Green Bay.
Van Ness had 13.5 sacks and 71 combined tackles in 27 college games at Iowa and was named second-team All-Big Ten as a junior in 2022.
The Packers ranked among the bottom five teams in sacks last season with 34. The addition of Lukas Van Ness should help that number increase, especially if he is as coachable as Green Bay thinks he is.
Van Ness wasn’t a prospect who broke the internet or made earth-shattering plays in college, but he could end up being one of the steals of the 2023 first round down the line.
