Green Bay Packers edge rusher Lukas Van Ness is embracing the pressure to step up his game.
The Packers traded edge rusher Rashan Gary to the Dallas Cowboys and lost Kingsley Enagbare in free agency. Van Ness, meanwhile, is a former first-round pick who has never fully emerged as a threat along the defensive front. Entering his fourth year, Van Ness is leaning on fellow edge Micah Parsons and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to help elevate his play.
“My goal for this year is just getting back to really having fun with football and just enjoying it. And I think I’m doing that. This OTAAS has just been great. I think with this new [Gannon] defense, a lot of versatility, kind of allowing us to play free without thinking. I’m just having a lot of fun.”
The Packers drafted Van Ness out of Iowa with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. But despite his pedigree, Van Ness did not start a game for his first two seasons. He appeared in just 9 games last season, with 2 starts, before a foot injury ended his season. He also dealt with a broken thumb in 2024.
“I look at the last two years, two years ago dealing with my thumb and then this past year dealing with the foot injury, not the way I would have envisioned it going, but that’s part of the game, part of football. And I think I’ve learned a lot about myself, internally. There’s a lot of noise out there, a lot of distractions, and just focusing on the guys in the building and the task at hand, which is winning Super Bowls. I’m feeling good. I’m feeling healthy. I’m getting back on a roll again. And I feel good at where I’m at.”
Even without the injury, Van Ness has not put up flashy statistics. He put up just 32 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, and a pass defense in his rookie season; 33 tackles, 6 TFLs, 3 sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery in 2024; and 19 tackles, 3 TFLs, and a sack and a half in 2025.
The Packers as a unit truly struggled getting after the passer last season. They tied for 20th in the NFL in sacks with 36 in 2025; Micah Parsons alone accounted for 12.5 of them, and he only played 14 games before a torn ACL ended his season. Rashan Gary put up 7.5 last season, and he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in March. With Gary and rotational edge Kingsley Enagbare both leaving in free agency, Van Ness will have the chance to start opposite Parsons but will also face the pressure to make up the gap in production.
“At the end of the day, I think pressure is a privilege to have,” he said. “We’re obviously in a blessed position where there’s people that watch our sport, and people are obviously going to have their own opinion, but like I said, at the end of the day, I think you’ve just got to believe in yourself and believe in what you’re hearing in the building from your coaches and your circle and other players in the defensive room. I have a great support staff around me, the coaches, the players, and I think we have a strong group of guys.”
Van Ness has been learning from Parsons, one of the league’s premier edge rushers, in the hopes of raising his game to the next level.
“The way that Micah plays, he’s very up in your face, quick off the ball,” he said. “And I think at times with being a little bit of a bigger body, just getting on guys quick, not waiting [until you’re] two, three, four yards up the field to make your move. And I think I’ve seen the improvement in that aspect.”
He is also leaning on Gannon.
“He’s got a fire,” he said of Gannon. “He’s intense, super smart, really supportive, a good dude, honestly just a super easy guy to approach, talk to about improvements, where he sees your game, how you can improve. And that’s, again, been super awesome for me just to have an open forum with the coach just to go and talk with, you know, ‘how do you see yourself utilizing me? Where can I be better? What do you want me to do?’ It’s been really fun getting to know him and getting to play in his defense.”
