Iowa DE Lukas Van Ness headed to NFL Draft
Iowa redshirt sophomore Lukas Van Ness hasn’t started a game for the Iowa Hawkeyes, but that’s not stopping the 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive lineman from taking the next step in his football dream as he declares for the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Barrington, IL native was a three star recruit coming out of high school with offers from Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas State, Kansas, and a host of MAC and high academic schools. Iowa was the only school he took an official visit to and committed in June of 2019.
Once he arrived in Iowa City in the summer of 2020, Van Ness went about adding weight and muscle to his frame. He had arrived in Iowa City around 240 pounds and quickly bulked up to 270 pounds. He also kept a lean frame that generated the nickname of “Hercules” from his teammates.
As he developed in college, Van Ness saw his stock with NFL scouts rise. Last season as a redshirt freshman, Van Ness had 33 tackles, 7 sacks, and a grand total of 8.5 tackles for loss. According to Pro Football Focus, Van Ness played 462 snaps in 2021 over 14 games with a grade of 70.1.
This season, Van Ness was still with the second unit. He had 37 tackles this season with 10.5 tackles for loss, including 6 sacks. Per Pro Football Focus, he played 478 snaps in Iowa’s 13 games. Van Ness earned an 80.1 grade from PFF this season. This season he also earned second team All Big Ten honors from the coaches and the media.
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In late November, Van Ness told reporters that he had not looked into the NFL opportunity, but he was very happy playing college football at Iowa.
“I haven’t looked into the NFL Draft,” he said. “I think that’s a decision that will have to be looked at following the season. I love this program, I love it here and I have no interest in leaving.”
While he hasn’t started a game in college, the NFL is all over the Hawkeye defensive end and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Dane Brugler from The Athletic has Van Ness as his 25th best prospect in college football as of his update in early November. In his most recent draft rankings of potential defensive end picks, ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Van Ness as his third best defensive end prospect.
