In today’s NFL, if you have just one premier edge-rusher, you’re short at least one premier edge-rusher. Look at the Houston Texans, with Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, or the Los Angeles Rams (previously) with Jared Verse and Byron Young, or the Los Angeles Rams (now) with Myles Garrett and Byron Young, or the Denver Broncos with Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, or the Pittsburgh Steelers with T.J. Watt (when healthy) and Alex Highsmith. These teams are ahead of the curve.
When you’re going against the high-powered and multiple passing games of the NFL, you’re much better off with an edge defender on either side of your fronts creating havoc for enemy quarterbacks. If you don’t have those two guys, it would behoove you to have at least one interior demolition expert to make things difficult. Anything to keep those offenses from the ability to negate just one major pass-rusher with a numbers advantage.
For the 2025 Green Bay Packers, the obvious alpha dog was Micah Parsons, acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Cowboys last August. When he was on the field for Green Bay last season, Parsons lived up to his considerable reputation as a quarterback disruptor, with 12.5 sacks and 79 total pressures. But when Parsons wasn’t on the field — and that was the case for 387 snaps, as opposed to the 656 snaps in which he did see action — the Packers’ pass rush fell off severely.
The players around Parsons were able to generate pressure to a point, but Parsons is a finisher when it comes to quarterbacks, and the other guys in green and gold? Not so much.
Due to the torn ACL he suffered in late December, Parsons has said that he may not see the field again until October, which obviously requires everybody else to step up in ways they didn’t before. There’s also the matter of Rashan Gary, who was the Packers’ second-best pass-rusher last season with 7.5 sacks and 60 pressures; he was traded to the Cowboys in March.
For new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, that leaves some holes in the pass-rush plan. The Packers did pick up veteran Javon Hargrave on a two-year, $23 million contract with $10.5 million guaranteed. Third-round defensive tackle Chris McClellan from Missouri does have some pass-rush juice, and fourth-round edge-rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton does, as well.
But if there’s one guy on that defense who needs to step up — especially in Parsons’ absence — it’s fourth-year edge-rusher Lukas Van Ness, who the Packers selected out of Iowa with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. When you take a pass-rusher that high in a draft, you obviously expect him to make impacts both immediate and long-term, and Van Ness has done neither to date.
In 2025, Van Ness managed just 1.5 sacks and 27 pressures, and he missed eight games due to injury. Van Ness’ career numbers (8.5 sacks and 69 pressures) over three seasons would comprise a decent season for any of the NFL’s premier pass-rushers, which has left him on the outs when it comes to making his defense better.
“I would’ve liked to get those games back that he missed this past year, because it kind of stunts you a little bit,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said of Van Ness in February. “He was playing very well for us. It’s always tough to get back to that level when you have that pause in the season. We feel really good about him, where he’s headed, what he’s done for us so far, and what he’ll do for us in the future.”
the packers could use more of this from lukas van ness pic.twitter.com/Bp2IbWesUu
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 26, 2026
Outside linebackers/run game coordinator/assistant head coach DeMarcus Covington certainly sounded sure about Van Ness’ future when asked about it in May.
“I’ve kind of been saying this since Day 1, since I walked in here, I think the sky’s the limit for him,” Covington, who is in his second season with the team, said of Van Ness. “Whatever he puts his mind to, he can do it. It’s about him being out there and being consistent like all of our players on a daily basis. The more you’re out there, the more you do it, the more consistent you are, the better you’re going to be. That’s with all our players. I’m excited to see him compete this offseason, and help us improve as a team for this 2026 year. I’m looking forward to watching him grow like I’ve been seeing him this past one and one-half years.”
That’s all well and good, but if Van Ness isn’t able to finally make the most of his attributes, it leaves the Packers in a lurch even with Parsons on the field, and in real trouble when he isn’t. Draft capital is a funny thing in that you never know if and when a player will live up to it, but there’s never been a better time for Lukas Van Ness to do just that.