Packers Urged to Move on From Former Iowa Star

The Green Bay Packers have been urged to move on from a former Iowa Hawkeyes star.

Oct 27, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness (90) waits for the snap against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second quarter at EverBank Stadium. | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

Former Iowa Hawkeyes star pass rusher Lukas Van Ness has been trying to prove himself with the Green Bay Packers. However, he has been unable to do so throughout his first two seasons.

Van Ness has shown flashes of huge potential since being selected with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, the consistency side of things has been lacking in a big way.

Through his first two NFL seasons, Van Ness has played in all 34 games that he could have played in. He has recorded 65 total tackles to go along with seven sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a defended pass.

Plenty of players do much less in their first two years, but Van Ness has not looked like anything special for the Packers.

With that in mind, Green Bay is being urged to move on from Van Ness as soon as possible.

Following the Packers' Wild Card loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Joe Summers of Dairyland Express made it clear that he doesn't think Van Ness should be back in 2025.

"This is a tricky one, as Lukas Van Ness is virtually guaranteed to be on the team for at least one more season. Nonetheless, he's proven to be a bust who the Packers will look to move on from as soon as possible," Summers wrote.

"Van Ness grades as 161st out of 211 qualified players at Pro Football Focus, an inexcusable mark for someone who was thought to be the NFL's next great pass-rusher. The 2023 first-round pick hasn't made an impact on the professional level, making it clear that Green Bay needs to find a suitable upgrade."

At 23 years old, Van Ness is still very young. Moving on from him after just two seasons could end up being a major mistake for Green Bay.

That being said, Van Ness hasn't done anything to force them to keep him either.

More than likely, he'll be back for one more season next year. He'll need to come out and make a major statement if he wants to stick around past that.

So far, Van Ness has been a disappointment for the Packers. Perhaps he can turn that around in 2025, but he's certainly on the hot seat at this point in time.