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1.13 - Lukas Van Ness [EDGE; Iowa]


CWood21

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50 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

Unless you're expecting Rashan Gary to miss a significant amount of time, you really only go 3 deep at the EDGE position.  Figure 60% of the snaps for EDGE1 and EDGE2, and around 40% of the snaps for EDGE3.  EDGE4 only gets significant run when there's an injury.

When DT2 gets replaced by edge3 on 3rd down or 2nd and long then all 3 can go to 60% easily

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You can see the Rashan Gary comparisons. Gary picked 12th. Van Ness picked 13th.

Both freakish athletes that use their strength and explosiveness to dominate. 

Both stuck in Big Ten schools refusing to play them at the pure edge position that would have maximized their draft stock. Both spent way too much time either head up or inside of tackles, hand fighting and two-gapping. 

Even looking at their outstanding combine numbers you can see the similarities. 

Gary (6'4 277)/Van Ness (6'5 272)

40 Time: 4.58/4.58

10 Split: 1.63/1.64

Broad: 10'0/9'10

20 Shuttle: 4.29/4.32

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The differences are there though. 

Gary is still a more explosive guy. Which isn't a shot at Van Ness. Gary is a top 1% of prospects ever when it comes to explosiveness. He's a monster. 

Van Ness is still highly explosive, he's just less so. 

You can see it both on film and in their verticals. 

Gary/Van Ness

Vert: 38/31. 

There's something to be said for just having one unstoppable trait, and Gary has that with his explosiveness moreso than Van Ness does with any tool in his toolbox at the moment. 

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That isn't to say that Van Ness doesn't have his own advantages. 

He bends the edge better on the rare occasion he was asked to do so at Iowa. Given his fast first step and really good flexibility he pulls it off well. Gary is far from a natural speed rusher and generally can only pull it off in the NFL when he gets the tackle setting against the bull rush first. 

Van Ness doesn't quite reach the 7.0 mark you like to see when looking at the 3-cone drill for rush guys, but he's damn close to it and should have similar capabilities as Gary to using it as a counter. Even just being that bendy at 6'5 puts Van Ness into rather elite space. 

Gary/Van Ness

3-Cone: 7.28/7.02

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Van Ness grades a little bit higher from a hand usage and motor standpoint. Though I might argue that Gary was unfairly lambasted for his motor, as his snap rate was absurdly high whereas Van Ness was in a rotation, and Gary didn't necessarily need to have perfect hand usage as he was strong enough to simply man handle most guys in the run game. Van Ness also comes in much leaner which helps his case and the optics. Gary is the better athlete coming into the NFL, but he's always kept a bit of padding on his frame, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, Van Ness may be asked to put some on as well as he plays longer in the league.  

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From a fit perspective, this is a duo you can go to war with in the long term. 

Some coaches may want a more pure-speed guy to compliment Gary's power, but there's also something to be said for just being big and strong all the way across the front line if you're going to play your safeties back, like the Packers do. A foursome of Gary-Clark-Wyatt-Van Ness (with Preston Smith as another Edge guy, likely starting early on) gives the Packers a defensive line that should be able to collapse pockets with exceptional regularity. If Wyatt and Van Ness can't be productive with that talent around them, there's a coaching issue happening in GB. 

The 3T spot remains the question, hopefully Wyatt can ascend and take that over. If he does, the sky is the absolute limit for this defense. 

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2 hours ago, Packerraymond said:

Clicked on Van Ness' agent's profile and the 2nd picture on his Instagram is him posing with Matt LaFleur, Jordan Love and AJ Dillon. Believe he's their representative from Athlete's First. Made an obvious fit even more likely from the start.

I find it hard to believe a player's agent affects who drafts them.

Edited by Mr. Fussnputz
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On 4/27/2023 at 8:53 PM, gopackgo972 said:

Someone make me feel good about this. He was productive at Iowa but never started? 

There are concerns about his strength.

Iowa starts players with seniority no matter what.  He got starter snaps though.  So thats not a concern.

He's long and powerful.  He needs technique development and doesn't show a ton of wiggle on tape, but his agility scores show he should have plenty.

He also has outside-inside positional flexibility which is nice.

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