Lukas Van Ness, EDGE Iowa: 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Van Ness was a three-star recruit from Barrington High School in Barrington, Ill. in the class of 2020

The hype around Iowa edge rusher Lukas Van Ness in draft circles is real. The redshirt sophomore is technically raw as a pass rusher, but he offers enticing power and fluidity for his size. Van Ness should hear his name called in the top 50 picks of the 2023 NFL Draft.

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Lukas Van Ness, EDGE Iowa: 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt sophomore defensive end from Barrington, Ill.

Background: Van Ness was a three-star recruit from Barrington High School in Barrington, Ill. in the class of 2020. He was the No. 1,063 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 981 for On3.com. Van Ness was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 74 grade out of 100. In high school, Van Ness lettered twice in football and three times in hockey. He helped his football team advance to the state playoffs as a junior and senior. Van Ness was a team captain as a senior, tallying 67 tackles, including eight for loss, five sacks, a forced fumble, and a blocked punt. He was the MSL Conference Defensive Player of the Year and earned First-Team All-Conference honors as a senior. The Champaign News-Gazette gave Van Ness First-Team All-State honors. Van Ness committed to Iowa over offers from Army, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Navy, Tulane, and other programs. He was born on July 6, 2001.

2022 Production: 13 games, 37 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 46 pressures, 7 sacks

2021 Production: 14 games, 33 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 28 pressures, 6 sacks, 1 pass defensed

2020 Production: (Redshirt Year)

Injuries & Off-Field: N/A

Awards: 2021 Academic All-Big Ten, 2021 Freshman All-America (Football Writers Association of America), 2022 Second-Team All-Big Ten

Pros: Age, significant experience rushing from the interior, blocked two punts vs. Iowa State (2022), motor runs hot, ankle flexibility, above-average agility for his size, wrap up tackler, fires off the line quickly, comes out of his stance low with good leverage, loads power with compressed lower body before exploding, builds and maintains momentum during stunts, powerful hands and upper body to stun linemen, strength throughout his frame, powerful sustained leg drive, powerful frame to work through half-man rush, dips and corners around the tackle’s outside shoulder, loose lower half, closing burst with the QB in his sight, chained a bull rush with a swim move while working back to the tackle’s inside shoulder vs. Kentucky (2022), converts speed to power, bull rush, long-arm rush, attacks inside rush lanes, generates displacement at the point of attack, stacks and sheds blocks in the run game, offers some downfield pursuit speed

Cons: Still very inexperienced, appears to have adequate but not elite arm length, length concerns showed up early against Dawand Jones (2022), only limited instances of bending around the edge, several instances of losing his balance, even TreVeyon Henderson (2022) knocked him down, pad level rises significantly throughout play, relies heavily on his physical gifts to win, still primarily out-athlete-ing people, lacks diverse set of pass rush moves and counters, doesn’t have the means to revive his rush with technical savvy, many sacks came on extended hustle plays, washed downfield by double teams, moved out of his gap to create rushing lane, shows lack of awareness in run defense, doesn’t consistently shed blocks

Overview: Van Ness is unofficially listed at 6'5", 275 lbs. He applied pressure on 9.76% of his pass rush attempts in 2021 and 16.97% in 2022. The hybrid defensive lineman is still very inexperienced. He played a little under 950 defensive snaps during his time with the Hawkeyes. Van Ness spent most of his time in 2021 lining up along the defensive interior, but he primarily played 4 and 5-tech in 2022. Van Ness still received a healthy dose of snaps lined up as a 2i, 2, or 3-tech. Iowa even gave him some reps at 0-tech. Van Ness deployed from two and three-point stances. The All-Big Ten selection blocked two punts versus Iowa State this past season. His motor runs hot no matter what role he’s playing. Van Ness displays exceptional ankle flexibility and lower body looseness for his size, which translates to above-average agility. He fires off the line with a quick, low, explosive drive that helps him win the initial leverage battle. Van Ness loads power with his compressed lower body before exploding into the lineman. He successfully builds and maintains speed and momentum on stunts. The Iowa product’s powerful hands and upper body stun offensive linemen. He possesses strength throughout his frame and powerful leg drive. Van Ness dips and corners around the tackle’s outside shoulder, showing exciting bend. He has impressive closing burst. The Illinois native shows the beginning signs of a pass rush arsenal. He chained a bull rush with a swim move while working back to the tackle’s inside shoulder against Kentucky (2022). Van Ness converts speed to power, attacks inside rush lanes, and makes use of bull rushes and long-arm rushes. He generates displacement at the point of attack and stacks and sheds blocks in the run game. Van Ness offers decent downfield pursuit speed. While he’s generally a solid wrap up tackler, the redshirt sophomore isn’t immune to missed tackles. Van Ness was largely ineffective against Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr., Dawand Jones, and tight end Cade Stover this past season. Outside of an early pressure recorded against Johnson (via speed to power), slipping a Jones block in the second half to gang tackle a running back, and a tackle of C.J. Stroud on an extended play, Van Ness struggled to make his presence known. He appears to have adequate but not elite arm length. Jones, Ohio State’s right tackle, used his atomic length to neutralize Van Ness’ pass rush with little difficulty. There are many instances on tape where Van Ness ends up on the ground. Even Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson knocked him down. Van Ness must improve his balance and use of leverage throughout the play to prevent these hiccups. Despite his natural bend, there are only limited instances of Van Ness flashing around the tackle’s outside shoulder. The former three-star recruit still relies heavily on his physical gifts to win reps. He lacks a diverse set of pass rush moves and counters and doesn’t have a go-to way to revive his rush once it initially dies. Many of Van Ness’ big plays in 2022 were extended “hustle” plays. The Iowa product gets washed downfield by double teams and shows a lack of awareness against the run. He’s sometimes surprised by blocks and is often moved out of his gap to create rushing lanes. Van Ness has the power to anchor and sustain at the point of attack, but he doesn’t show this ability consistently. He’s still learning how to shed blocks faster without being taken out of the play.

Overall, Van Ness is a fluid, powerful athlete with immense potential, but he’s criminally underdeveloped in key areas of his game. There’s an easy path for Van Ness to go in the first round, potentially even in the top 15 picks, but his abilities to consistently win as a pass rusher and diagnose and wreck run plays are works in progress. Van Ness is the ultimate ball of clay in this draft class that some lucky defensive coach can’t wait to mold.

Role & Scheme Fit: Defensive end in a 4-3 scheme

Round Projection: Mid Second to Early Third

Player Comparison: N/A

Submitted: 01-25-23