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Lukas Van Ness named Packers’ preseason standout by Pro Football Focus

Posted on August 22, 2024 - 11:51 pm by

The former first-round pick was able to record three tackles for losses and a sack on Saturday.

According to analytics service Pro Football Focus, the player of the game in the Green Bay Packers versus Cleveland Browns matchup in Week 1 of the preseason was Packers second-year first-round pick defensive end Lukas Van Ness. Van Ness played half of the snaps with the first-team defense on Saturday, spelling starters Rashan Gary and Preston Smith, but saw most of his work with the backup units.

Here’s what PFF had to say about the Iowa Hawkeye:

Packers edge defender Lukas Van Ness showcased the talent that made Green Bay draft him with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on Saturday. The second-year defender recorded four pressures and two more pass-rush wins for an impressive 28.4% pass-rush win rate across 14 pass-rush snaps. He also notched a stop against the run to round out his notable performance.



 

Officially, Van Ness finished the game with three total tackles, three tackles for losses, one sack and two quarterback hits on the box score. Across the board, those were the highest numbers posted by any Packers defensive lineman in the game.

If what head coach Matt LaFleur said after the game, that the starters wouldn’t be playing against the Denver Broncos next week due to the team’s schedule joint practice, that should only mean that Van Ness will get an even more extended look in Week 2 of the preseason. With Gary and Smith out of the picture, Van Ness will get plenty of reps in Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix’s debut start in the NFL.



PFF ultimately gave LVN a 76.4 grade for his Week 1 performance, which was the second-best mark on the team and the best one among players who are expected to be regular season contributors, assuming everyone stays healthy.

If you’d like to see a couple of clips from Van Ness’ big game, Andy Herman of Packer Report made a cutup of his All-22 film in the tweet linked below: