2023 First Round Pick, #13, Lukas Van Ness

[King Friday]

Pick is meh. They kid is a valid defensive prospect, but MLF and his staff clearly have little knowledge on how to properly utilize defensive talent. Thus, as most other defensive picks have been, it will largely go as waste as the defense continues to be mediocre but not bad enough to actually get Barry fired.

Gute needs to come away with one of the top TEs on Friday.

[RashanGary]

If you had to pick one body/athlete, would you rather have Gary or Van Ness? Gary 1/2” shorter and 5 lbs heavier so more stout. But lower agility. Vs Van Ness who is a little taller, not quite as stout, but more agile?

I think I like Van Ness slightly more. I like the ability to bend the corner. And he’s close on strength.

[RashanGary]

This guy has a super low chance of bust imo. The size and athleticism is rare. Even if he’s not great, he’s gonna be able to do some things just because he’s got the physical talent.

[Joemailman]

If you had to pick one body/athlete, would you rather have Gary or Van Ness? Gary 1/2” shorter and 5 lbs heavier so more stout. But lower agility. Vs Van Ness who is a little taller, not quite as stout, but more agile?

I think I like Van Ness slightly more. I like the ability to bend the corner. And he’s close on strength.

One area where Van Ness came up short at the combine was bench press. He did 17 which is poor for the position, whereas Gary did 26. Van Ness does have huge hands (11.0) so maybe he's able to compensate with hand strength.

[RashanGary]

One area where Van Ness came up short at the combine was bench press. He did 17 which is poor for the position, whereas Gary did 26. Van Ness does have huge hands (11.0) so maybe he's able to compensate with hand strength.

Sean Jones said one time he could only put it up like 3 times when he was coming out. So he finagled his way out of doing it. Some of the longer guys just have lever types that make bench hard. I don’t think it shows much, honestly. He’s strong. I read nothing into that.

[Joemailman]

I think he is a rich pretty boy. So probably similar to Herro without the crazy dad. But who knows

Yep. He's from Barrington IL, a pretty affluent NW suburb of Chicago. So like that other Iowa stud Bulaga, probably grew up a Bears fan. Can't blame a person for where they were born. I'm one of them.

[oldbutnotdeadyet]

The girlfriend has the nose on her, but she pulls off some nice glamour shots. I am going to stop now because I shouldn't be objectifying women like this. Hot, not hot, 10 pt rating scales, These are not the way of the Jedi.

Well, I am pushing 70, and I still think the pick was worthwhile if ONLY for the sisters..

[oldbutnotdeadyet]

If you had to pick one body/athlete, would you rather have Gary or Van Ness? Gary 1/2” shorter and 5 lbs heavier so more stout. But lower agility. Vs Van Ness who is a little taller, not quite as stout, but more agile?

I think I like Van Ness slightly more. I like the ability to bend the corner. And he’s close on strength.

And MUCH younger..

[oldbutnotdeadyet]

One area where Van Ness came up short at the combine was bench press. He did 17 which is poor for the position, whereas Gary did 26. Van Ness does have huge hands (11.0) so maybe he's able to compensate with hand strength.

Oh oh, the 'huge hands' comment..

[King Friday]

Gary was a far more experienced player coming out of college, and it took him awhile to figure it out. This kid will be almost useless in 2023 outside of special teams.

He could end up as a great player, but he’s got a long way to go and a defensive coaching staff that doesn’t exactly exude confidence in coaching up the kids.

[Fritz]

Gary was a far more experienced player coming out of college, and it took him awhile to figure it out. This kid will be almost useless in 2023 outside of special teams.

He could end up as a great player, but he’s got a long way to go and a defensive coaching staff that doesn’t exactly exude confidence in coaching up the kids.

Not necessarily a bad thing, King. Picture this:

Next season, Love has growing pains but it's clear he's gonna be the Real Deal. Defensive coaching staff botches everything again, so MLF finally ditches JoeBarely after the season and hires a young, whipsmart, good communicatin' defensive coordinator, who hires a staff with similar qualities.

And we're off to the races in '24.

[run pMc]

Quick - as of a week ago, who were the top 3 (healthy) pass rushers on the defense?
How many sacks and pressures did they get?

Now, what if one of them gets hurt?

I don't think it's a bad pick, I think he's got a high ceiling that will require a lot of work to reach. Seems like he's a hard worker and Rebrovich isn't a bad coach. He's roughly as big and athletic as Rashan Gary or Nick Bosa. I didn't the positional value at 13 was really there for a WR/TE, so I think they will go receiver shopping on Day 2 & 3. One of Mingo/Rice/Wicks at WR, probably. The TEs except Kincaid (older prospect with a back injury? ghost of Justin Harrell says no) are still out there too. If JSN is some top talent, a lot of teams passed on him so they must be just as dumb as Gute.

The Van Ness pick is a traits/upside pick. Gary worked out for them and they're betting LVN will too.

[Deputy Nutz]

If you had to pick one body/athlete, would you rather have Gary or Van Ness? Gary 1/2” shorter and 5 lbs heavier so more stout. But lower agility. Vs Van Ness who is a little taller, not quite as stout, but more agile?

I think I like Van Ness slightly more. I like the ability to bend the corner. And he’s close on strength.

You're crazy. Gary is physical freak show of an athlete, Key numbers are the 10 yard shuttle, and the vertical, then add in the bench press with actually longer arms than Van Ness. Very similar over all, I would assume they will groom Van Ness to play opposite of Gary, but who knows. They keep drafting 4-3 defensive ends and ask them to play stand up edge in the nickel. Not sure what the deal is and its confusing.

[bobblehead]

One area where Van Ness came up short at the combine was bench press. He did 17 which is poor for the position, whereas Gary did 26. Van Ness does have huge hands (11.0) so maybe he's able to compensate with hand strength.

Bench press is 100% trainable. When I was 25 I did 28 reps at 225. That doesn't mean I was stronger than Van Ness or Gary. It means I spent a lot of time in the gym. I also have pretty short arms which helps. Watch Van Ness's bull rush and you realize he has immense functional power.

[red]

Bench press is 100% trainable. When I was 25 I did 28 reps at 225. That doesn't mean I was stronger than Van Ness or Gary. It means I spent a lot of time in the gym. I also have pretty short arms which helps. Watch Van Ness's bull rush and you realize he has immense functional power.

there a clip of him bull rushing paris johnson jr a few times

very impressive