If the Green Bay Packers are going to be in contention for the NFC North in 2025 — and they expect to be — they will need a number of young players to take the proverbial next step and become asset starters. One player, in particular, who needs to step up his game and become the player the Packers envisioned when they drafted him is former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness.
Van Ness has already been in the NFL for two seasons, and in 34 games, he has just seven total sacks and 16 quarterback hits. The Packers drafted Van Ness with the belief that he could be a consistent threat and difference-maker off the edge, and he's yet to become that.
Year three has got to be the time, and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has breathed some new life into the possibility of a breakthrough year for the former Iowa star.
Matt LaFleur gives some hope for Lukas Van Ness breakout year with Packers
Matt LaFleur suggests Lukas Van Ness has been held back a bit by a desire for perfection.
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) August 5, 2025
"This is an imperfect game and sometimes you just gotta go."
Said he's doing a better job of that this year.
Considering how much of a project Van Ness seemed to be when he was coming out of Iowa -- where he wasn't even a full-time starter for Phil Parker's defense -- it's interesting that perfectionism is what he's struggled with at the professional level.
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Maybe it's the pressure to live up to his first-round status, or the pressure to live up to his contract, or a number of factors in there, but ultimately, when guys struggle with doing too much "thinking" in the NFL, they struggle with what they are supposed to be able to do best. Van Ness is a big, long, physical specimen. He's got plenty in his repertoire to be able to win in a variety of alignments on the defensive front.
The tools are all there for Van Ness to rack up double-digit sacks every year, and that's what the Packers need him to be in 2025. Especially with the cornerback position taking on so much change, those guys on the back end will take all the help they can get from the pass rush.
Jeff Hafley had this defense in a much better position last year than what he inherited, and it does help players to have continuity in a defensive scheme. Van Ness being able to just "play" and not "think" as much this coming season could potentially take the Packers' entire defense to another level because of the way he can win one-on-one matchups.
And if LaFleur is already seeing it out there on the practice field, it may only be a matter of time before we're seeing it in real games.