There were a lot of positives to take away from the Green Bay Packers Week 1 preseason performance against the Cincinnati Bengals. They won in dominant fashion, coming away with a 36-19 victory as plenty of players stood out for excellent performances.
However, there were also some players that stood out but not for positive reasons. One of those players was Lukas Van Ness. The No. 13 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Iowa failed to make an impact in his first professional game.
So much so that he ended up on Sam Monson’s list of players whose stocks are down after the first week of preseason over at PFF. It wasn’t from a lack of opportunities, as Monson tracked Van Ness at 20 snaps played; he just failed to do anything with the chances.
“First-round pick Lukas Van Ness saw 20 snaps for the Packers against a Bengals offensive line that wasn’t playing its starters. Fifteen of those snaps were as a pass rusher, allowing him to tee off and get after the quarterback.
However, Van Ness finished the game with just one hurry and PFF grades in the 40s for both run defense and pass rushing. Van Ness is a raw, powerful prospect but looked like he might have a ways to go to contribute as a rookie.”
That certainly isn’t the start that the Packers or Van Ness were hoping he would get off to. Going up against the Bengals’ backup offensive lineman, the Iowa product had a chance to really showcase his talent, but he was stuffed more often than not.
There were some evaluators that believed Van Ness was a bit of a raw prospect. Not only did he not start a single game collegiately, Van Ness relied mostly on his brute strength and athleticism to get the job done at Iowa.
It will take more than that to succeed in the NFL, as Van Ness needs to put together a plan and refine his technique. The Packers know it will take some time and they have a history of bringing their defensive players along slowly. Green Bay has no qualms about being patient, and they will have to be with their 2023 first-round pick as well.
With Rashan Gary coming along slowly from his ACL rehab as well, the opportunity is there to claim snaps in the regular season. But, Van Ness won’t be handed playing time based on his draft spot; he will have to earn it like all of his other teammates.
