Lukas Van Ness is currently one of the highest-rated prospects in college football. He has accumulated many accolades during his college career, playing for Barrington High School, Barrington. He has spent his college career at the University of Iowa and is currently a sophomore. He is considered to be a first-round pick in the 2023 draft class. Ness is currently pursuing a major in Business at the University of Iowa.
Lukas Van Ness was born in Barrington, Illinois, United States of America. He attended Barrington High School in Barrington, Illinois. Lukas was shaped up to be a good defensive player from a very young age and was awarded a number of honors in high school itself. These include being named MSL Conference Defensive Player of the Year and being named to the First-team All-conference as a senior. The Champaign News Gazette named him to the First-team All-state and he was named First-team All-are by the Daily Herald and Pioneer Press. He proceeded to play for the University of Iowa where he has established himself as one of the best defensive prospects for the NFL draft class of 2023.
Lukas is eligible to be a part of the 2023 NFL Draft. After 3 years at the University of Iowa, Lukas announced his decision to forgo his senior year and enter the draft class of the 2023 NFL season. Although he has never started a game for the Hawkeyes, Lukas is projected to be a first-round pick due to his physique and unique defensive abilities. He was ranked a 25th-pick prospect by The Athletic. We are taking a peek into the rise of Lukas Van Ness from a high school defensive end into a promising draft prospect in the draft class of the 2023 NFL season.
Lukas Van Ness at Barrington Highschool
Lukas Van Ness was born in Barrington, Illinois on July 6th, 2001. He attended Barrington Highschool in Barrington, Illinois and played football and ice hockey. He played the positions of defensive end and defensive tackle at high school and earned a number of accolades during his tenure in the team. Such accolades include:
MSL Conference Defensive Player of the Year
First-team All-conference
First-team All-state
First-team All-area
Throughout his high school career, Lukas helped his team advance to the playoffs while he was just a junior. As a senior, he was named captain of the team and recorded 67 tackles of which he had 5 sacks. Apart from football, he also competed in hockey.
Lukas Van Ness at the University of Iowa
After playing for Barrington High School, Lukas Van Ness committed to the University of Iowa. As a freshman, he was redshirted, implying that he did not see any game time. Over the next two years at the University of Iowa, Lukas shaped up to be a very good defensive end and made an impact in college games. His two years of college career saw him record a total of 71 tackles of which he had 13 sacks, 34 solo tackles and 37 assisted tackles. Furthermore, he tied the single-game record in the University of Iowa by blocking two punt attempts against Iowa State. He achieved many accolades during his college years of which the most notable is being named to the All-big Ten teams and earning the Coaches Appreciation Award.
As a draft prospect, Lukas promises a unique combination of size (6’5”, 270 lbs), strength and explosiveness. His strength would prove to be a point of concern for opposing offensive linemen. Given that he trained as a defensive end and defensive tackle at the University of Iowa, he offers teams that are interested in him flexibility within the two positions. However, his athleticism has not been rated highly indicating that Lukas might have a problem containing more athletic quarterbacks.
Lukas’ draft combine results indicated a time of 4.58 seconds on the 40-yard dash, 31-inch vertical jump and 17 reps bench press. He had a total score of 79 earning himself a 2023 Combine EDGE rank of 7.
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