Lukas Van Ness NFL Draft 2023: Scouting Report for Iowa EDGE

HEIGHT: 6'5"

WEIGHT: 272

HAND: 11"

ARM: 34"

WINGSPAN: TBD

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40-YARD DASH: 4.58

3-CONE: 7.02

SHUTTLE: 4.32

VERTICAL: 31"

BROAD: 9'10"

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POSITIVES

– Great size and length for an NFL defensive end.

– Good get-off, quick to react to the snap and accelerates off the line of scrimmage well.

– As a run defender, he's physical at the point of attack and has pop in his hands to get extension against offensive linemen.

– Takes on blocks with good pad level and has the strength to stand up tackles to get a leverage advantage.

– Creates stalemates and is hard to move one-on-one, solid at holding against double teams, too.

– When bull rushing, he has plenty of strength and keeps his feet moving through contact to put offensive tackles on skates. He can collapse the pocket against good tackles and weaker guards.

– Has a solid push-pull move, he's strong enough to fold tackles in half and just needs to get more limber to clear his hips and get clean wins.

– Good pass-rush motor to get coverage sacks.

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NEGATIVES

– Limited experience and hasn't proven to be an every-down player who can handle a full game workload.

– Not a good athlete or very limber, which limits his pass rush arsenal to power moves. He rarely even tried to win with finesse at Iowa.

– As a pass-rusher and run-defender, he doesn't work the offensive lineman's hands to get them off of him and allows blockers to hang onto him.

– Below-average bend to turn tight corners at the top of the rush.

– Lack of athleticism and change-of-direction skills shows up against athletic quarterbacks, as he'll lose outside contain, especially against bootlegs.

– Needs to be more violent when shedding blocks or add a rip move when escaping to disengage against the run. He'll occasionally lose gap control because of this.

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2022 STATISTICS

— 13 G, 38 TOT, 11 TFL, 6.5 SK

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NOTES

– DOB: July 6, 2001

– A 3-star recruit in the 2020 class, No. 1,063 overall, 52 SDE, per 247Sports composite rankings

– No major injuries

– 0 career starts

– Career stats (two seasons): 70 total tackles (34 solo), 19 TFL, 13 sacks, 1 PD

– 2022 Honors: Academic All-Big 10, second-team All-Big Ten

– 2021 Honors: Academic All-Big 10, Freshman All-American (FWAA, Maxwell Football)

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OVERALL

Lukas Van Ness might be one of the most interesting draft projections in this year's class. As a redshirt sophomore who didn't log a single start in college, it was a bit of a surprise that he didn't opt to go back to school. But he's been getting first-round love because of his physical traits.

Van Ness already has an NFL-ready body and can be an absolute bear in the trenches. He's strong and physical at the point of attack, which gives offensive linemen a lot of trouble in pass protection and the ground game. Iowa also used him up and down the defensive line, so he can play multiple spots as well.

However, he's inferior athletically to a lot of other top edge-defenders in this year's draft class. That seemed to limit the Hawkeye's pass-rush arsenal to power moves and can cause him to lose contain against athletic quarterbacks. It will be important for him to put up some good numbers at the combine to show he can at least grow in that department.

Schematically, Van Ness would be best as a hand-in-the-ground defensive end in even fronts, but he has the size, strength and versatility to play as a 4i-technique in odd fronts, too. He can probably line up as a 3-tech occasionally as well.

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GRADE: 8.0 (Year 1 starter)

OVERALL RANK: 21

POSITION RANK: EDGE4

PRO COMPARISON: Kyle Vanden Bosch

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Written by B/R NFL Draft Scout Matt Holder