Lukas Van Ness (born July 6, 2001) is an American football defensive end for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

of the National Football League (NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Iowa and was selected by the Packers in the first round of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

Early years

Van Ness was born on July 6, 2001, in

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County and Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area features wetlands, forest preserves, parks, and horse trails in a country-s ...

. He later attended Barrington High School, where he played football and ice hockey. He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play

at Iowa over offers from Illinois, Minnesota, and Kansas.

College career

Van Ness redshirted his true freshman season at Iowa. Playing both defensive end and

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

, he became a starter as a redshirt freshman and had 33 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and seven sacks. At the end of the season, Van Ness was named a Freshman All-American by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

. During his redshirt sophomore season, he was named the Big Ten Conference Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking two kicks in a 10–7 loss to Iowa State.

Professional career

Van Ness was selected by the

in the first round (13th overall) of the

. He signed his rookie contract on June 27, 2023. He saw his first NFL action on September 10, 2023, against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, recording his first career sack on Justin Fields during a 38–20 win. His second sack came in a Week 13, 27–19 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bioIowa Hawkeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Ness, Lukas 2001 births Living people People from Barrington, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois American football defensive ends American football outside linebackers Iowa Hawkeyes football players Green Bay Packers players