The Green Bay Packers selected Iowa edge rusher Lukas Van Ness in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Van Ness did not start as a rookie, but certainly showed flashes of the athletic ability that caused GM Brian Gutekunst to select him with the 13^th overall pick in round 1.

For his rookie campaign, Van Ness played in all 17 games for the Packers. He was on the field for 33 percent of the team’s defensive snaps which placed him fourth among Green Bay edge rushers behind starters Rashan Gary and Preston Smith and second-year man, Kingsley Enagbare.

In his first season, Van Ness made 32 total tackles including eight tackles for loss. He sacked opposing quarterbacks four times and recorded 10 quarterback hits.

Van Ness showed off his outstanding athleticism as a rookie. He still needs to work on developing more moves as a pass rusher and to hone his technique. That hopefully will come as he gains additional experience.

The Packers actually played Van Ness more frequently on running downs so he could use his speed to track down ball carriers and make plays.

Heading into year two, Van Ness can expect to receive more playing time than he did in 2023. He has one more year of experience. Plus, with Enagbare expected to miss the start of the 2024 campaign after suffering a serious knee injury in the playoffs, that alone should move Van Ness up at least one spot on the depth chart.

Head coach Matt LaFleur was impressed by what Van Ness showed in his first NFL season even though the plan was to bring him along slowly, much the way they did with Rashan Gary when he was drafted in 2019.

“I think he’s done a great job. He’s really come in he’s worked his tail off,” LaFleur said midway through the season. “He’s been able to grasp what we’ve asked him to do. So, I think he’s going to continue to get better and better and better. I’m really excited about what the future holds for him.”

Now that the Packers have fired Joe Barry and brought in Jeff Hafley as their new defensive coordinator, the team will be changing to a four-man defensive front as opposed to the three-man front they’ve been running for decades. How will this affect the way the team utilizes Van Ness going forward?

The change should actually give Van Ness more opportunities to get on the field. At Iowa, Van Ness played a lot of defensive line. The Hawkeyes would line him up in different positions along the line to create mismatches and give Van Ness the biggest advantage possible.

Now, instead of just lining up as an outside linebacker or edge rusher, Van Ness can line up at defensive end, or defensive tackle. He can also play linebacker where his speed can help him track down ball carriers and help stuff the run. If Hafley is expected to use a 4-2-5 base defense, having Quay Walker and Van Ness as the linebackers gives the Pack two fast players who can cover a lot of ground at the second level of the defense.

Van Ness can also line up as a defensive end in the new alignment and rush the passer. He had his hand on the ground often in college, so he is familiar with what it takes to play that position. Having Van Ness, Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, and Kenny Clark all on the field together as part of the front four gives Hafley and the defensive coaches a lot of potential options to rush the passer. They can change the positioning of those players around and incorporate stunts and blitzes to further confuse offensive coaches and players.

Add fellow 2023 draft picks Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks to the mix along with T.J. Slaton and Devonte Wyatt and the team has a potentially strong group of pass rushers who hopefully will also do a better job of defending the run.

Assuming he can make the adjustment, the future holds a lot of potential for Lukas Van Ness in 2024 and beyond.