1. Lukas Van Ness, EDGE
All it seems Lukas Van Ness does is make plays. Throughout OTAs, Van Ness's name continues to come up. He is making an impact.
Paul Bretl of Packers Wire broke down some of Van Ness' most impressive plays from practice.
Bretl wrote: "Van Ness was able to create separation between him and the tackle, but instead of going directly to the quarterback, he set the edge and identified if the running back had the ball before then pursuing Clifford for what would have been a sack."
Lukas Van Ness with a gorgeous rush on Yosh Nijman. Legit teach tape stuff. Played the run off play action, ripped through the tackle, exploded to the QB. Fun stuff.
— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) May 31, 2023
Van Ness has been working with the No. 2 defense, but that doesn't matter when you're lining up against Yosh Nijman, a starting NFL right tackle. Van Ness isn't just making plays against backups, but versus talented pass-protectors like Nijman.
Again, it's early in the offseason. We haven't even arrived at minicamp yet and training camp is still way off in the distance, but it's encouraging to see the impact Van Ness is already making. Whether he's a starter or backup this season, the first-round pick will have a significant role to play in Joe Barry's defense.
Mike McCarthy used to stress the importance of stacking success. Van Ness has done this in the opening two weeks of OTAs.