As much as Green Bay Packers fans tend to avoid all things from the state of Illinois, there’s one NFL prospect who might be worth expanding our horizons. Adding Lukas Van Ness, a redshirt sophomore from the University of Iowa and Barrington, Ill., would require the use of the Packers’ first-round pick. However, he would be a versatile, complementary piece to add to an already good defensive line.
As the season progressed, the defensive line rotation seemed to fall into place. As expected, Kenny Clark dominated the snap count, with Jarran Reed stepping up, which allowed Devonte Wyatt and T.J. Slaton to continue to learn and grow. On the edge, recently restructured contract signer Preston Smith led the team with 8.5 sacks, but only because the Defensive Player of the Year campaign for Rashan Gary was halted by an ACL tear. Kingsley Enagbare showed flashes as a fifth-round draft pick. But as a whole, this unit still needed something more.
That something could certainly be Van Ness, who is usually mocked anywhere from the mid teens to the low twenties. NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah has slotted him in at spot No. 18 on his top-50 prospects list.
Jeremiah describes Van Ness as a “powerful defensive lineman with the versatility to stand up on the edge or slide inside,” giving Joe Barry and the Packers’ defensive front potential options on where to use him. The biggest position of need, at least immediately for Green Bay, is on the edge until Gary can get healthy, and they could let Van Ness loose on the edge in the earliest stages of his career.
One of the most encouraging traits about Van Ness is the juxtaposition of his productivity against his relative football youth. After taking a redshirt freshman season right out of high school, he earned Freshman All-America honors with seven sacks and 33 tackles in 14 games. His sophomore year, he increased his tackles-for-loss number from 8.5 to 11, while adding 6.5 sacks and second-team all-Big Ten accolades. All of these stats and honors came while not even earning a starting role for the Hawkeyes.
His physical traits could not be more present. He has a prototypical frame, standing 6’5”, 275 lbs., and thrives on power and motor. The NFL is certainly a step up from the Big Ten (although Big Ten tackles are usually nothing to scoff at). However, if Green Bay can harness the football youth of the 21-year-old Van Ness, he could be an impact player immediately and a force as he continues to develop. In a perfect world, Van Ness would learn the ropes and take some lumps, yet show some flashes in the first half of the season. Once Gary returns, Van Ness could pair with Enagbare as a sort of second unit of pass rushers that would give depth to an important unit. As his career progresses, he could see increasingly more reps on the interior of the line as a defensive coordinator may see fit.
There are positions on the Packers roster that are in dire need of help, such as safety and tight end, so a selection of a player like Van Ness might be a bit more palatable if the team were to, say, trade a certain quarterback and obtain another mid-first-round pick. Drafting Michael Mayer and then Lukas Van Ness would be a home run of a first round for Brian Gutekunst. But trading back, picking up another Day 2 pick, and selecting Van Ness in the early 20s would also be a win for Green Bay.
Regardless of where he’s picked, it’s easy to see a player like Van Ness working out in the NFL. There are very few questions about his size, physicality, and motor, whereas some of the questions arise in teachable aspects like technique and hand control. A seemingly low-risk, high-ceiling prospect alongside Green Bay’s existing ascending talent could help turn a middling unit into much more fortified one.
