Lukas Van Ness

13th overall in 2023 — 10.5 career sacks across three seasons in Green Bay.

Van Ness was the 13th overall pick in 2023, taken to be the long-term edge complement to Rashan Gary and Preston Smith. The rookie year (5 sacks, 11 QB hits across all 18 games) felt like the floor of a developmental piece, not a top-15 pick.

2024 actually went backward (3 sacks despite a full 18-game season). The 2025 line through 7 games — 2.5 sacks and 9 QB hits — is finally trending in the right direction on a per-game basis.

Among 2023 first-round defenders, Van Ness sits 8th in career sacks — well behind Will Anderson Jr. (38).

The 2023 first round was loaded at edge — Will Anderson, Tyree Wilson, Lukas Van Ness, Will McDonald, Nolan Smith all went in the top 30. Three years in, Van Ness ranks 8th out of 10 first-round defenders in cumulative sacks, with Anderson lapping the field at 38.

The slot-cost ratio is harsh: pick 13 produced 10.5 sacks in 43 games (~0.24 per game), the same per-game rate as pick 7 (Wilson) but well below Anderson's 0.88.

9 QB hits through 7 games in 2025 — more per game than either of his first two seasons.

The 2025 line through Week 7 is finally what the Packers spent pick 13 on: 1.29 QB hits per game is roughly double his rookie rate and four times the 2024 trough. The sack conversion still lags (2.5 on 9 QB hits ≈ 28%), but at his current pace over 17 games he'd produce ~22 QB hits and 6+ sacks — career bests across the board.

19 career TFLs but only 1 pass defense — a pure rusher, never a coverage piece.

In 43 career games Van Ness has been targeted in coverage so rarely that he has 1 pass defense and 0 interceptions. His usage is binary: pin your ears back, rush the passer. That makes the lagging sack production more concerning — there is no secondary contribution to fall back on while the pass rush develops.

The TFL number (19) confirms he isn't asked to two-gap. He's the chase-piece on toss/sweep but not the gap-setter.

First career multi-sack game came in his rookie season — but only one since.

Across 43 career games Van Ness has produced only one multi-sack outing prior to 2025 — and that means the 10.5 career total is spread one-half-sack-at-a-time across more than 30 different games.

For a top-15 edge rusher, the absence of breakout games is the bigger concern than the raw count. Compare to Will Anderson Jr., who's had 5+ multi-sack games already in his career. The Packers haven't gotten a single signature pass-rush performance out of Van Ness yet.