2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Lukas Van Ness

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Lukas Van Ness, 6-5/275 Defensive End Iowa

Lukas Van Ness Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Quick off the ball

Straight-line speed

Good motor

Gives relentless effort

Upper body strength

Can line up inside in the sub package

Sturdy end

Good size

Sufficient instincts

Weaknesses:

Struggles to get off blocks

Does not use hands well

Stiffer athlete

Lacks pass-rushing moves

Summary: The vast majority of redshirt sophomores return to school, but Van Ness was a surprising early-entrant into the 2023 NFL Draft. In 2022, Van Ness recorded 36 tackles and 6.5 sacks. He notched 33 stops and seven sacks in 2021. While Van Ness is a young player in need of additional development, he decided to move on from Iowa and jump to the next level.

Van Ness is a high-effort pass rusher who does well at picked up coverage sacks. He does not win cleanly against offensive linemen and really struggles to shed blocks. Thanks to not using his hands well, Van Ness gets caught up a lot by offensive linemen. Van Ness also lacks pass-rushing moves, and he is a stiff athlete who does not show wiggle as a rusher. For the NFL, Van Ness needs to improve significantly in his hand usage and develop his pass-rushing repertoire.



In the ground game, Van Ness is generally reliable at holding his gap. He does not get knocked off the ball and is able to set the edge. Van Ness shows sufficient instincts to stay home on misdirection plays and flow to the ball with good angles on stretch runs.

Van Ness definitely has the body to play base end in the NFL. He would probably fit best as an end in a 4-3 defense rather than a standup outside linebacker in a 3-4. For a 3-4 scheme, he would be better off gaining weight and playing five-technique.

Some team sources say they have Van Ness graded on Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft, while he has gotten some media hype as a first-rounder. That gap suggests perhaps there are teams out there that feel Van Ness is worthy of a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.



Player Comparison: Carl Nassib. Van Ness is a bit like Nassib coming out of Penn State. Both were strong and tough with some straight-line speed, but also stiff athletes who had some limitations.

2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Devon Achane, RB, Texas A&M Adetomiwa Adebawore, DE, Northwestern Jordan Addison, WR, USC Will Anderson, DE, Alabama Felix Anudike-Uzomah, DE, Kansas State Steve Avila, G, TCU Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland Micah Baskerville, LB, LSU Keeanu Benton, DT, Wisconsin Matthew Bergeron, OT, Syracuse Mekhi Blackmon, CB, USC Kayshon Boutte, WR, LSU Brian Branch, S, Alabama Julius Brents, CB, Kansas State Bryan Bresee, DT, Clemson Chase Brown, RB, Illinois Sydney Brown, S, Illinois Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA Malik Cunningham, QB, Louisvile Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina Max Duggan, QB, TCU Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Notre Dame Isaiah Foskey, DE, Notre Dame Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon Derick Hall, OLB, Auburn Jaren Hall, QB, BYU Anton Harrison, OT, Oklahoma Daiyan Henley, LB, Washington State Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee Siaki Ika, DT, Baylor Antonio Johnson, S, Texas A&M Paris Johnson, OT, Ohio State Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU Broderick Jones, G, Georgia Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio State Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah Sam LaPorta, TE, Iowa Will Levis, QB, Kentucky Quan Martin, CB, Illinois Cody Mauch, G, North Dakota State Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame Will McDonald, DE, Iowa State Kenny McIntosh, RB, Georgia Tanner McKee, QB, Stanford Kendre Miller, RB, TCU Jonathan Mingo, WR, Ole Miss Cam Mitchell, CB, Northwestern Malachi Moore, S, Alabama Mike Morris, DE, Michigan Wanya Morris, OT, Oklahoma Myles Murphy, DE, Clemson Luke Musgrave, TE, Oregon State Zion Nelson, OT, Miami B.J. Ojulari, OLB, LSU Demarvion Overshown, LB, Texas Owen Pappoe, LB, Auburn Jarrett Patterson, C, Notre Dame Clark Phillips, CB, Utah Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas Chris Rodriguez, RB, Kentucky Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas Noah Sewell, LB, Oregon Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina Mazi Smith, DT, Michigan Nolan Smith, DE, Georgia Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State John Michael Schmitz, C, Minnesota Tyler Steen, OT, Alabama Tyrique Stevenson, CB, Miami C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State Cedric Tillman, WR, Tennessee Joe Tippman, C, Wisconsin O'Cyrus Torrence, G, Florida Henry To'oTo'o, LB, Alabama Tuli Tuipulotu, DE, USC D.J. Turner, CB, Michigan Lukas Van Ness, DE, Iowa Deuce Vaughn, RB, Kansas State Tyree Wilson, DE, Texas Tech Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia Keion White, DE, Georgia Tech Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee Bryce Young, QB, Alabama

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