We’re fresh off an excellent all-around performance from the Green Bay Packers following their 30-14 Week 3 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.
Most people have focused on Malik Willis and the job he has done over the last two weeks leading the team in Jordan Love’s absence, and rightfully so – it’s been nothing short of spectacular. However, I want to focus on Green Bay’s 2023 first-round pick, defensive end Lukas Van Ness.
Green Bay’s defense has played solid football under first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. However, if there’s one area we can critique during the first three weeks, it’s the performance of the defensive ends at the top of the depth chart.
The Packers are rostering six defensive ends on their 53-man roster. Veterans Preston Smith and Rashan Gary are at the top of the depth chart. Coming into this season, most people expected Gary to break out and be on the shortlist for Defensive Player of the Year. Peter Schrager recently voted Gary as his DPOY on the NFL Network.
However, Gary has been off to a slow start in 2024, posting only five tackles and one sack through three games while playing 66% of the defensive snaps. That’s not great production for a player the team extended for $96 million to get to the quarterback.
Smith also got off to a slow start on the stat sheet until his two-sack performance against the Titans. He has played just a tick below Gary in snap percentage (61%), totaling seven tackles and two sacks. Hopefully, his two-sack game isn’t an anomaly but a sign of what’s to come.
However, it’s concerning that Green Bay’s top two edge rushers have combined for only three sacks through three games. Due to their dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks, the Packers played a more contained defensive style against the Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts.
Against the Titans, though, Gary mostly lined up against Nicholas Petit-Frere. Tennessee benched Petit-Frere late in the game after he allowed nine pressures, seven hurries, and a sack in Week 2. Still, Gary couldn’t break through for a sack. They simply need better production with so many snaps devoted to Gary and Smith.
That brings us to Van Ness. The Packers selected Van Ness 13th overall in 2023 out of the University of Iowa, mainly due to his freakish athletic ability and their hope that he could become a premier pass rusher in the NFL. While he entered the league viewed as more of a long-term development player, Green Bay hasn’t given him many opportunities.
During his rookie season in 2023, they had him on the field for only 32% of the defensive snaps, and he’s only at 32% this year. Understandably, the Packers wanted to bring Van Ness along slowly as a rookie because he only played 27 games at Iowa. Plus, Green Bay has veterans at the top of the depth chart.
However, he has already shown that he can make an impact in the NFL. As a rookie, he played in every game and finished with 32 total tackles, eight tackles for a loss (tied for second on the team), a pass defensed, four sacks, and 10 quarterback hits (fifth-best). He also became the first Packers rookie to post four-plus sacks and eight-plus tackles for a loss since LB Clay Matthews in 2009.
After his strong finish to 2023, where he collected three sacks and 11 pressures in the final three games of the regular season, I expected Van Ness to receive a significant uptick in playing time in 2024. He now has a year of experience playing against NFL offensive linemen. As a lineman who can play with his hand in the ground or stand up to rush the passer, he’s part of a defensive system that will help showcase his versatility.
Van Ness is one of the few players the Packers have along the defensive front who can line up up and down the line of scrimmage. He started the preseason with a great performance against the Browns, finishing with two tackles for loss and a sack. He dominated Cleveland’s offensive line that game, showing that, if given ample snaps, he can affect the game.
That’s where things need to change. Van Ness has yet to turn a performance like that into anything more than a splash play here or there. However, he’s had a few splash plays, including sacking Will Levis on third down and his fumble recovery late in the third quarter, which all but ended any comeback attempt by Tennessee. Still, he has shown great hustle and determination on routine plays. Therefore, the Packers must allow Van Ness to affect the game consistently.
The Packers drafted him to be the future of their pass rush alongside Gary, but they seem to have entrenched him as the fourth defensive end behind Kingsley Enagbare. Young, raw players take time to develop, and I thought Van Ness would follow the same path as Gary.
During Gary’s rookie season, he played a backup role to Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith after the Packers drafted him 12th overall. Gary played 23% of the snaps in his rookie season, but that number jumped to 44% in his second year. Green Bay allowed Gary time to develop while giving him the requisite snaps to become a premier rusher.
Van Ness is playing the same percentage of snaps this season as last year, and 33% of the snaps is insufficient to get their return on their first-round investment in him. For comparison, Los Angeles Rams 2024 first-rounder Jared Verse has played 70%, 73%, and 66% of his team’s defensive snaps each week, respectively. Van Ness is at 25%, 36%, and 41%. Which team is allowing their young defender the time on the field to develop?
Perhaps the Packers plan to slowly increase his snaps as the season progresses to help save Gary and Smith for what will hopefully be a long playoff run, but now is the time to get him those high-leverage snaps to speed up his development. With Preston Smith, 31, currently the oldest player on the youngest roster in the NFL, it’s clear that Green Bay wants to stay young. This is also likely Smith’s last year on the team. If the Packers want to slide Van Ness into that starting role next season and beyond, now is the time to finally unleash the man known as “Hercules.”
