ASHWAUBENON, WISCONSIN - MAY 31: Lukas Van Ness #90 of the Green Bay Packers participates in an OTA practice session at Don Hutson Center on May 31, 2023 in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Selecting Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness in the 2023 NFL draft was a fairly contentious choice taken by the Green Bay Packers. Fans of the Packers wanted to strengthen the defense, especially with the draft being so defense-heavy.
However, a number of wide receivers, notably Jordan Addison and rising star Zay Flowers, were on the scoreboard. Several teams are experiencing FOMO because of those two guys’ incredible play, even with the receiving core performing as well as it did.
Fans wouldn’t mind if Van Ness turned out to be the impact player that many had been waiting for. But less than a year later, the real reason Van Ness was selected by the Packers has been completely forgotten, given how much people these days need rapid achievement. Does that imply he is a failure?
Lukas possessed all the necessary raw materials to be a pass rusher when he graduated from college. From an intangible standpoint, Van Ness had a lot going for him at 6’5″, 270 LBs, and a 4.6 combine time. The pass rush techniques weren’t quite there; this article will go into more detail about them later.
Van Ness hasn’t made enough of an impression to satisfy the recency bias folks now that the 2023 season is over. With just three sacks, one of them came on a cover sack against Justin Fields, one of the league’s most sack-prone quarterbacks. Despite not being a starter in any of the 14 games, he finished with a total of 22 tackles.
