Projected All-Rookie Team Includes One Packers Draft Pick

Which Green Bay Packers draft pick is predicted to earn NFL All-Rookie honors?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers added 13 players in the 2023 NFL Draft. One was given a spot on Chad Reuter’s Projected All-Rookie Team for NFL.com.

Outside linebacker Lukas Van Ness, the 13th pick of the first round, joined Will Anderson (No. 3 overall to the Houston Texans) and B.J. Ojulari (No. 41 overall to the Arizona Cardinals) as All-Rookie projections on the edge.

Van Ness will provide critical depth at outside linebacker as Rashan Gary works his way back into the lineup following last year’s torn ACL.

Van Ness’ rookie season will be interesting to follow given his limited track record with two seasons of work at Iowa. NFL Matchup’s Greg Cosell, for instance, “did not see that type of player” when projecting Van Ness to life on the edge.

“I did not see him as that kind of player.”@GregCosell is surprised the Packers are making first round pick Lukas Van Ness an outside linebacker and explains why: pic.twitter.com/OpM4Pb10RD

— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) June 25, 2023

Reuter, however, had no such worries.

“I think Van Ness’ strong hands and movement skills make him less of a project than many believe,” Reuter wrote.

While Van Ness didn’t see any first-team action – those reps went to veterans Preston Smith and Justin Hollins – he made a strong impression during the offseason practices.

“We call him ‘Hercules.’ It’s all in his name, man,” Gary said. “He gives effort, very strong and he’s hungry for knowledge. We see a kid like that that’s young, that’s hungry for knowledge and don’t think they got it made, that’s the type of kid we want and those are the type of kids we been grabbing.

“Lukas is going to be one hell of a player for us.”

After picking Van Ness in the first round, the Packers selected tight end Luke Musgrave and receiver Jayden Reed in the second round and tight end Tucker Kraft in the third round. None made Reuter’s team, though. The receivers were Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seattle Seahawks, No. 20) and Zay Flowers (Baltimore Ravens, No. 22) and the tight end was Sam LaPorta (Detroit Lions, No. 34).

In the NFC North, the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions had two players selected, the Packers had one and the Minnesota Vikings had zero.

Click here for the full All-Rookie projections.

Countdown to Packers Training Camp

Four #Packers stories that you can perhaps read through another day of smoke.
ESPN's roster rankings: https://t.co/ooReLszbpL
All-Rookie projections: https://t.co/OA5fg5YUh9
Big Question at ILB: https://t.co/s8EDigPGFp
Training Camp Countdown: https://t.co/vRT41LARKB

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) June 29, 2023

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