Even with Aaron Rodgers no longer in Green Bay, the Packers still won’t draft an offensive skill player for their quarterbacks, as they draft Iowa defensive end Lukas Van Ness.
The Green Bay Packers officially moved on from quarterback Aaron Rodgers this past week, trading him to the New York Jets. While receiving a massive haul of draft picks, the Packers and Jets swapped first round picks this year. With that, the Packers held the No. 13 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Packers fans waited to see how the team would use it. Would they do something that they never did for Rodgers and draft a wide receiver in the first round for new starting quarterback Jordan Love? Would they select one of the top tight ends in either Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer or Utah’s Dalton Kincaid?
Nope. With the 13th overall pick, Green Bay selected Iowa defensive end Lukas Van Ness.
Let’s take a look at the reactions for the pic, including from some Packers fans.
NFL Twitter reacts to Packers picking Lukas Van Ness in NFL Draft
For those Green Bay fans that were wondering if there would be a change of philosophy and the team would consider addressing the wide receiver depth chart, the answer is now. Instead of getting one of the top wide receivers available in Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba or USC’s Jordan Addison, they opt to address their pass rush.
Van Ness was considered to be on one of the top edge rushers in the class, but was not in the same tier as Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. or Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson. He’s 6-foot-5, weighs 272 pounds and ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine. But, he never started a game during his three years at Iowa.
Through 26 games, Van Ness recorded 70 total tackles (34 solo, 36 assisted), 19 tackles for loss and 13 sacks.
As of the first night of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Packers are running it back with Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure at the top of their depth chart, all of whom were selected last year. Of course, there’s always Day 2 and 3 for the team to address the position.
