The Green Bay Packers were one of the youngest teams in the NFL a season ago. Green Bay finished with a 9-8 record and was the seventh seed in the NFC. The Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card round before falling to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round.
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Green Bay should have an electrifying offense this season. There were a lot of young players on offense that developed last season for the Green Bay Packers. The defense will be totally different this season. Who can possibly break out on defense this season?
Defensive End Lukas Van Ness Can Be the Breakout Player For the Green Bay Packers In His Second Season
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Van Ness was the 13th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Iowa. He will be on the second unit on the Packers depth chart at outside linebacker for now. Rashan Gary and Preston Smith will be the starters for the Green Bay Packers, but expect Lukas Van Ness to be in the rotation in his second NFL season.
Packerstalk.com writer Damon Sewell wrote about having three potential players breaking out this season for Green Bay. He thinks that Van Ness will be one of those players. Sewell said about Lukas Van Ness:
“In 2023, Lukas Van Ness had 32 total tackles, four sacks, and 6.5 tackles for a loss. Playing mostly on a rotational basis, Van Ness didn’t play a ton and was given an opportunity to really sit back and develop his craft.
I would expect Van Ness to have more opportunities in 2024. This is even more true considering the Packers are moving to four down linemen. On potential passing downs, the Packers could possibly have Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Kenny Clark, and Lukas Van Ness on the field at once with Van Ness playing on the inside to give him more opportunities from the interior.
Van Ness could quite possibly put on a Herculean effort and dominate in 2024. I mean, his nickname is Hercules.”
It will be very important for Lukas Van Ness to play well in the defense and show potential for the future. Preston Smith is 31 years old and Van Ness will need to get more snaps than him eventually. If Van Ness does not show any potential in his second season, it could potentially be another first-round whiff for general manager Brian Gutekunst. For his hits, he has certainly had his fair share of misses as well.
