The Green Bay Packers’ selection of Iowa edge rusher Lukas Van Ness at No. 13 overall on Thursday night continued a now six-year run from general manager Brian Gutekunst of drafting nothing but elite athletes in the first round.
Van Ness is 6-5 and 271 pounds, and his Relative Athletic Score is 9.39 out of 10.0, the seventh-best score among edge rushers in the draft class. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds and aced the agility drills, completing the short shuttle in 4.32 seconds and the three-cone in 7.02 seconds.
Van Ness is in the 88th percentile for height, 98th percentile for straight-line speed and 90th percentile for short-area quickness among edge rushers in draft classes from 1987-2023. He also has long arms (34 1/2″) and huge hands (11″). Overall, Van Ness is the tallest edge rusher and third heaviest edge rusher among Dane Brugler’s top 15 edge rushers in the draft class. His speed score is in the 96th percentile at the position.
Player Profiler ranked Van Ness as the second-most athletic edge rusher and ninth-most athletic player in the draft class overall.
With height, bulk and incredible movement ability, Van Ness looks like a player custom made to play outside linebacker for the Packers.
Getting a disruptive player at edge rusher almost always requires acquiring an elite athlete. The position must consistently beat 300-pound offensive tackles with either power or speed. Van Ness has both, upping the chances of him being a hit. In fact, his athletic profile is usually a hit; among his best RAS comparables are Trey Hendrickson, Jared Allen, Tray Walker, Preston Smith and Ezekiel Ansah.
The Packers once rolled the dice on an elite athlete at edge rusher in the Big Ten, and it worked out beautifully with Rashan Gary, who had a couple of seasons to develop behind veterans before becoming a full-time player. The same pathway is ahead of Van Ness, who packs a big punch as a power player and has the size and athleticism to play all over the defensive front but probably needs time to develop a better pass-rushing and block-beating arsenal.
Including Van Ness, all eight of Gutekunst’s first-round picks since taking over in 2018 have a RAS of 8.0 or better, including six (and four in a row) over 9.0. The average RAS of Gutekunst’s eight first-rounders? 9.28.
| Year | Player | School | RAS |
| 2018 | Jaire Alexander | Louisville | 9.54 |
| 2019 | Rashan Gary | Michigan | 9.95 |
| 2019 | Darnell Savage | Maryland | 8.35 |
| 2020 | Jordan Love | Utah State | 8.46 |
| 2021 | Eric Stokes | Georgia | 9.38 |
| 2022 | Quay Walker | Georgia | 9.63 |
| 2022 | Devonte Wyatt | Georgia | 9.56 |
| 2023 | Lukas Van Ness | Iowa | 9.39 |
