Iowa’s Lukas Van Ness could follow similar path as Rashan Gary as Green Bay Packers’ first-round pick

IOWA CITY — Before Lukas Van Ness received the call from the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night, the communication between the Iowa defensive end and his future team had been limited.

They met at the NFL Combine and “really didn’t have too much conversation” outside of that.

“You only get 20 minutes,” Van Ness said of the combine meeting. “We really didn’t talk about much schematically or where they see me fit.”

Now that Van Ness is a Packer, early signs point toward the former Iowa standout likely following the same path that Rashan Gary took four years earlier from 4-3 defensive end in the Big Ten to a formidable 3-4 outside linebacker.

Van Ness, like Gary, fits Green Bay’s mold for relatively bigger outside linebackers.

The larger size gives the Packers versatility, general manager Brian Gutekunst said.

“When you’re a little lighter outside there, you can’t go inside; it’s tougher to go inside,” Gutekunst said. “It’s just kind of how we want to be built.”

One does not need to look far to see the parallels between Van Ness and Gary, who was a 4-3 defensive end at Michigan.

Some of Van Ness’ combine numbers closely mirrored Gary’s from 2019.

Gary ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash. Van Ness? Also 4.58.

Gary’s 20-yard shuttle run was 4.29 seconds. Van Ness? 4.32 seconds.

Gary had a 1.63-second 10-yard split. Van Ness had a 1.64-second 10-yard split. Their broad jumps were 2 inches apart.

Gary was measured at 6-foot-4 and 277 pounds, and Van Ness was measured at 6-foot-5 and 272 pounds.

The Packers picked Gary with the 12th pick of the 2019 draft. They picked Van Ness with the 13th pick.

They are not quite carbon copies of each other, though.

“They’re a little bit different player, a little bit different body type,” Gutekunst said.

Van Ness, Gutekunst said, has “had a little bit more probably exposure inside rushing than Rashan did coming out.”

“But they’re both big, long, fast, powerful athletes,” Gutekunst said. “They’ll complement each other well.”

Gutekunst does not expect Van Ness to slim down much as he moves from 4-3 defensive end to 3-4 outside linebacker. He weighed 272 pounds at the combine.

“He’s a pretty low body-fat guy,” Gutekunst said. “I don’t think he’s going to drop much, if anything. … He’s one of those body types that could probably go up and go down if he wanted to, but I think that’s probably where he’ll kind of stay — right in that area.”

That would be in line with what the Packers have done with Gary, who still is listed at 277 pounds.

Gutekunst did not rule out Van Less, “a very versatile player,” from playing on the inside during his time in Green Bay.

Gary’s adjustment to outside linebacker has largely been successful so far in his career. The Packers had a 40 percent pressure rate when Gary was on the field in 2022, according to ESPN Stats and Information, versus 32 percent when he was not on the field.

Van Ness already seems to have the confidence of someone playing at a comparable level to Gary.

The quarterback he is most looking forward to sacking? “It would have to be Patrick Mahomes,” Van Ness said. “Super Bowl champ.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com