With their first pick in the 2023 draft GB selects Lukas Van Ness Iowa

[Mark87]

Hawk Item – – Tied Iowa single game record with two blocked punts vs. Iowa State . . . spent majority of 2022 spring practice moving from tackle to end position.

2022 Honors – – Academic All-Big Ten for second year . . . Coaches Appreciation Award, special teams . . . Team Hustle Award, defense . . . second-team All-Big Ten by league coaches and media, Associated Press and Phil Steele . . . named Big Ten Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his play vs. Iowa State . . . preseason third-team All-Big Ten by Athlon Sports . . . 2022 – – Listed as second team left defensive tackle following spring practice . . . saw action in 7-3 opening win over South Dakota State as defense allowed just 120 yards total offense . . . one assisted tackle vs. SDSU, a shared tackle for loss . . . saw action in 10-7 loss to Iowa State . . . recorded one assisted tackle and one solo tackle vs. ISU, with one tackle for loss . . . tied single-game school record with two blocked punts vs. ISU . . . saw action in 27-0 win over Nevada as defense allowed just 151 yards total offense . . . career-best eight tackles vs. Nevada, including three solo tackles and five assists . . . totals included 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 QB sacks . . . saw action in 27-10 win at Rutgers as defense allowed just 61 net rushing yards . . . recorded three tackles at Rutgers, including two solo stops and one assist, along with a shared QB sack and a solo QB pressure . . . saw action in 27-14 loss to #4 Michigan, recording one assisted tackle and one QB pressure . . . saw action in 9-6 loss at Illinois . . . three tackles at Illinois, including one solo stop and two assists, with one tackle for loss and two QB pressures . . . saw action in 54-10 loss at #2 Ohio State four tackles at OSU, including two solo tackles and two assists . . . saw action in 33-13 win over Northwestern as defense allowed just 18 net rushing yards and 177 yards total offense . . . four tackles vs. Northwestern, including two solo tackles and two assists, with 1.5 tackles for loss and one QB sack . . . saw action in 24-3 win at Purdue as offense allowed just 87 net rushing yards and 255 yards total offense . . . four tackles at Purdue., including three solo tackles and one assist, with 1.5 QB sacks . . . saw action in 24-10 win over Wisconsin as defense allowed just 51 net rushing yards and 227 yards total offense . . . one solo tackle vs. Wisconsin, a solo QB sack . . . saw action in 13-10 win at Minnesota, recording one assisted tackle . . . saw action in 24-17 loss to Nebraska . . . two tackles vs. Nebraska, including one solo tackle and one assist . . . saw action in 21-0 Music City Bowl win over Kentucky as defense allowed just 68 net rushing yards and 185 yards total offense . . . four tackles vs. Kentucky, including two solo tackles and two assists, with 1.5 tackles for loss and a shared QB sack.

2021 Honors – – Academic All-Big Ten . . . Freshman All-America by Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Maxwell Football Club . . . Shawn Alexander Freshman of the Year Watch List . . . 2021 – – Saw action in 34-6 win over #17 Indiana as defense allowed just 77 net rushing yards and 233 yards total offense . . . one solo tackle vs. Indiana for Iowa’s only QB sack in the game . . . saw action in 27-17 win at #9 Iowa State as defense allowed just 87 net rushing yards . . . recorded one pass break-up and one QB pressure at ISU . . . saw action in 30-7 win over Kent State as defense allowed just 79 net rushing yards and 264 yards total offense . . . career-best seven tackles vs. Kent State, including one solo stop and six assists . . . combined with Zach VanValkenburg for a safety for the first points of the game . . . totals included 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks . . . saw action in 24-14 win over Colorado State as defense allowed 95 net rushing yards and 250 yards total offense . . . three tackles vs. CSU, including two solo stops and one assist, including one QB sack . . . saw action in 51-14 win at Maryland as defense allowed just 97 net rushing yards and 271 yards total offense, recording one assisted tackle . . . saw action in 23-20 win over #4 Penn State, recording one assisted tackle . . . saw action in 24-7 loss to Purdue . . . two tackles vs. Purdue, including one solo stop and one assist, with one tackle for loss and one QB pressure . . . saw action in 27-7 loss at Wisconsin, but had no statistics . . . saw action in 17-12 win at Northwestern as defense allowed just 93 net rushing yards . . . two solo tackles at Northwestern, including a solo sack . . . saw action in 27-22 win over Minnesota . . . one solo tackle and one assisted tackle vs. Minnesota . . . saw action in 33-23 win over Illinois, recording one solo tackle as defense allowed just 64 net rushing yards . . . saw action in 28-21 win at Nebraska . . . six tackles at Nebraska, including five solo tackles and one assist, with QB sack resulting in team safety, his second of the season . . saw action in 42-3 loss to #2 Michigan . . . three tackles vs. Michigan, including one solo tackle and two assists, to go with one QB pressure . . . saw action in 20-17 Citrus Bowl loss to #22 Kentucky . . . four tackles vs. Kentucky, including two solo tackles and two assists, with one sack.

2020 – – Redshirted . . . did not see any game action.

High School Honors — Named MSL Conference Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference as a senior…named first-team all-state by Champaign News Gazette…first-team all-area as a senior by Daily Herald and Pioneer Press…Career — Two-year football letterman, helping prep team advance to state playoffs as a junior and senior…team captain as a senior…recorded 67 tackles as a senior, with 17 quarterback pressures, eight tackles for loss, five sacks, one forced fumble, and one blocked punt…also earned three letters in hockey.

Personal — Born 7/6/01…business major…member of National Honor Society…earned academic all-state recognition…parents are Leanna and Jason Van Ness…high school coach was Joe Sanchez.

 

[rpiotr01]

Did Ted Thompson make this pick via Ouija board?

 

[kingkoopa]

Did Ted Thompson make this pick via Ouija board?

No, he would have taken someone better

 

[Cheesedog]

Geezuz his 2023 highlight was special teams play…

Gutey bombed this one. You have a new starting QB with limited weapons and you left a solid WR on the board to pick a frickin project who won’t start for awhile whose big 2022 highlights revolve around special teams play…

I sure hope Gutey is gone after this year.

Edit: I don’t have anything against the kid per se, I just think Gutey should have gone O with who was on the board.

 

[Keg Man]

What draft has Gute excelled in.

It's like he's a Bears Spy rotting us from the inside on purpose

 

[kingkoopa]

Geezuz his 2023 highlight was special teams play…

Gutey bombed this one. You have a new starting QB with limited weapons and you left a solid WR on the board to pick a frickin project who won’t start for awhile whose big 2022 highlights revolve around special teams play…

I sure hope Gutey is gone after this year.

He should have been gone already.

 

[rpiotr01]

Van Ness was the #3 edge in McGinn’s draft guide, behind Anderson and Wilson. Please remove if not allowed to re-post but he is not a bad player or prospect at all. IMO the issue is the dearth of roster talent on O with this team.

3. LUKAS VAN NESS, Iowa (6-5, 275, 4.62, 1): Third-year sophomore. Redshirted in 2020 as a 3-star recruit, then played 27 games without a start as coach Kirk Ferentz kept seniors in the lineup. “Played up and down the line,” one scout said. “This guy is all ball. All A-plus across the board. He is raw. He will take some time. He’s got some traits like J.J. Watt had.” Largest hands (11) of the group. Arms were 34. “He’s in the mix of like a Grant Wistrom,” said a second scout. “He’s certainly more gifted than Aaron Kampman. In the (Kyle) Vanden Bosch and Patrick Kerney mold where you’ll get a day’s work out of him. His value is he can probably play anywhere across a 3-4 or 4-3 except for pure nose. You can stick him inside in sub. He’s a little bit straight line. What he does have is strong hands. How do you take a guy (high) who’s never started a game?” Posted 20 on the Wonderlic. “His game is sound,” a third scout said. “It’s based on strength and physicalness more than finesse and athleticism. He features a lot of inside hands slipping and escaping. Very fundamental against the run. Very good point-of-attack and area defender. Excellent timing with his shed. Average twitch. He’s a model prisoner, too, and that’s why I’m surprised he departed after two years (of playing).” Finished with 71 tackles (19 ½ for loss) and 13 ½ sacks. Never forced a fumble. “The (not starting) is just the way Iowa does it,” said a fourth scout. “Part of that, too, is they knew what they had in him and they didn’t want him to start this year thinking he’d come back. They won’t ever admit that but it has to be. It’s not like he wasn’t playing. He still played 50 snaps a game.” From Barrington, Ill. “I don’t see a twitchy enough guy to play on the edge and be disruptive,” said a fifth scout. “He’s got some pushback ability but he doesn’t have like knockback ability so I worry about him inside and if he’s truly explosive enough to come off the ball and rock people. It’s more like he gets into guys and pushes them. There wasn’t a lot of difference between doing him and Ryan Nelson (fourth round, Tampa Bay, 2019).”

 

[Nerd]

Edge who can play the run. Versatility along the dline. Plenty of upside. Above 260 lbs. I don't mind it.

He can play ST too, lol.

 

[rpiotr01]

We’re gonna lose a lot of hard fought 17-13 games this season, lol

 

[57packer]

Van Ness was the #3 edge in McGinn’s draft guide, behind Anderson and Wilson. Please remove if not allowed to re-post but he is not a bad player or prospect at all. IMO the issue is the dearth of roster talent on O with this team.

The screw ups with contracts, especially AR's. and pushing money forward leaves them with so much damn dead CAP that there are holes everywhere. On offense you are way short in the TE room, thin at WR, and you need a back-up QB.

Then there's defense, where despite all the high picks you are short on the DL, need a back-up ILB, have a safety room with 7 guys who all play special teams, other than Savage, and he's not a good safety. With Gary out for half the season you are short at OLB so it's hard for me to get real upset with the Van Ness pick, even though he's not my preference.

If they had some CAP room maybe they could have fixed some of this mess before the draft. At this point it's hard for me to get too worked up about about any position they select in the first 2 days other than RB, IOL, or QB.