Big Ten Roundup (Sept. 14): Lukas Van Ness, Keeanu Benton Star in NFL Debuts

Former Iowa football defensive end Lukas Van Ness and former Wisconsin football defensive tackle Keeanu Benton put forth great rookie debuts on Sunday in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The NFL world was introduced to the dominance of Big Ten pass rushers this Sunday thanks to Lukas Van Ness and Keeanu Benton. 

Van Ness previously played for coach Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes, and was selected with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers.

Benton, meanwhile, played for former Wisconsin football coach Paul Chryst, and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 49th overall pick in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Despite Pittsburgh falling to the San Francisco 49ers by a dismal score of 30-7, Benton finished the game with one of the best PFF grades in the entire NFL.

Here's everything you need to know in today's Big Ten Roundup:

Van Ness Records Sack in First Game

After racking up 13.5 sacks during his final two seasons in Iowa City, it didn't take long for Van Ness to add another in Green Bay. 

Watching the play makes it even more impressive. The Iowa-made EDGE defender was one-on-one in space with Justin Fields, one of the most dangerous running threats the sport has ever seen at the quarterback position. 

No matter. Van Ness closed the angle and tossed him out of bounds with ease. 

Lukas Van Ness....that's all....that's the tweet#GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/G8rNdaXnz9

— Packerfan Total Access- Clayton (@packers_access) September 13, 2023

That sack was pretty much Van Ness's lone contribution to the Packers 38-20 win over the Chicago Bears. Aside from that sack, he had just one other tackle in the 35 total snaps he saw on the field this Sunday. 

But the Packers drafted Van Ness specifically for plays such as that sack of Fields. He's a closer who can shift the expected value of each drive with a standout play more than he is a down-to-down defender. 

Regardless of how well anyone says that Van Ness played in his first ever NFL game, it's an undeniable fact that it takes many players several games, if not seasons, to record their first ever sack.

It only took Van Ness 20 minutes of game time. 

Benton Graded as 2nd Best Rookie in NFL by PFF

If Benton, as a second round pick, finished his first NFL regular season game as one of the best-graded rookies at his position, that would be pretty good.

Well, turns out Benton already played the 8th best game of any interior defensive lineman in the entire league according to PFF. Only Jalen Carter of the Philadelphia Eagles graded higher than Benton amongst rookies. 

Steelers rookie DT Keeanu Benton had a great debut and ended as the 2nd highest graded rookie in Week 1 by PFF at 86.1 #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/fBiY5oUiwh

— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) September 13, 2023

Benton didn't finish Week 1 with many counting stats, as he only recorded three combined tackles in the Steelers 30-7 loss to the 49ers. 

But that's the whole point of PFF and their grades. They track how Benton is performing and ignore what highly variable statistics like tackles would say. 

According to PFF, this is the entire list of defensive tackles in the NFL who played better than Benton in Week 1 — DeForest Buckner, Jalen Carter, Quinnen Williams, Grover Stewart, Jonathan Allen, David Onyemeta and Andrew Billings. 

That's it, we're done. 

Half of those players have made Pro Bowls, the other half are well-established NFL contributors, and only Carter (who most expect to be a perennial all-Pro) shares Benton's first-year status.

The long and the short of it — Benton is going to be really, really good next to former Wisconsin Badger T.J. Watt in Pittsburgh.

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