Packers Struggling Defender Facing Make-or-Break Season

The Green Bay Packers largely sat out the edge rusher market in free agency and waited until the fourth round to add depth at the position during the NFL Draft, which is a clear message to one of the underachieving pass rushers currently on the roster.

As the 2025 season looms, it could be time for Lukas Van Ness to step up, or else the Packers won’t take as passive an approach to adding pass rush depth in the years ahead.

Packers’ Lukas Van-Ness Facing Consequential 2025 NFL Season

Pro Football Focus NFL analyst Dalton Wasserman put together a list of each team’s make-or-break player in 2025, with Van Ness getting the nod for the Packers.

“Former 13th-overall pick Lukas Van Ness has yet to prove he is a capable NFL starter,” Wasserman writes for PFF. “Through his first two seasons, he has posted a 58.4 PFF overall grade and compiled just 42 total pressures. Green Bay ranked just 28th in the NFL in PFF pass-rush grade without blitzing last season.

“If Van Ness and the rest of the defensive line can’t win their matchups up front, then the Packers could be looking for new options for that unit next offseason.”

Van Ness boasts just seven career sacks, and Green Bay is still looking for a quality and disruptive second edge rusher to emerge and complement ascending talent Rashan Gary.

It’s simultaneously easy to see why the Packers might be getting impatient and why the organization may have decided that it is worth giving Van Ness one more chance to prove he’s capable of reaching his top-15 potential.

But, if Van Ness doesn’t make a push for double-digit sacks this upcoming season, edge rusher could be a top priority for the Packers, both via free agency and the draft, next spring given the position’s outsized value in modern defenses and the general lack of production from Van Ness through his first two seasons.