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A heavy, restless summer hangs over Green Bay as the Packers report to training camp. Three years removed from the end of the Aaron Rodgers era, the team is chasing clarity and championships amid a blizzard of expectations and doubts. Optimism and anxiety jostle for space at Lambeau. Fans remember a stirring playoff run from a season ago, but also the bitter taste of regression and an infamous divisional record. This year, every rep and every snap feels weightier, with jobs hanging in the balance. Training camp is less an audition and more a tension-laden reckoning for several Packers. In particular, one guy faces a crucible like no other.
Evaluating the Packers’ 2025 Outlook
The Packers' offseason was, in our estimation, underwhelming. Sure, Nate Hobbs and Aaron Banks were intriguing free-agent additions. However, the team arguably overpaid for their services. First-round receiver Matthew Golden was a strong pick. That said, the overall success of their draft class hinges heavily on the development of tackle Anthony Belton and receiver Savion Williams. This felt like an offseason prioritizing long-term vision. That may not translate to significant immediate improvement in 2025 beyond Golden's contributions.
Green Bay’s approach to free agency was cautious, yet still featured some positional overpays. Meanwhile, the draft clearly focused on future potential over plugging immediate holes. As NFC North rivals like the Lions and Vikings aggressively bolstered their rosters, the Packers appear to be banking heavily on internal growth and development. This strategy carries inherent risks, especially with General Manager Brian Gutekunst stressing a “sense of urgency” to compete. With Jordan Love entering his third year, the pressure is mounting for the team to convert stability into championship contention. The window for this current core is open. Without substantial progress this season, though, it could quickly close.
Here we'll try to look at the Green Bay Packers player who is under the most pressure as they enter the 2025 NFL season.
Why 2025 Is a Make-or-Break Year for Lukas Van Ness
Every NFL roster offers stories of promise, adversity, and unmet potential. Yet no story on the Packers’ sideline is more compelling than that of Lukas Van Ness.
Selected 13th overall, Van Ness was always described as “raw but rare.” His rookie flashes were enough to justify the “developmental” label, but 2024 did not bring the anticipated sophomore leap. Instead, it was a campaign dogged by a hand injury. That diminished both his efficiency and his confidence. Even as Preston Smith, the experienced edge rusher ahead of him, departed, Van Ness couldn’t cement his status. He logged fewer snaps than Kingsley Enagbare and was ultimately less impactful than Brenton Cox. He was the undrafted upstart who did more with less on the field.
Van Ness finished 2024 with a 53.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. That's a result that falls short of both fan and front office expectations. His 20 total pressures over 427 snaps symbolized not a breakout but a question mark. Through two seasons, the once-hyped Iowa product has delivered a pedestrian 58.4 average grade and just 42 pressures. He has failed to register as either a plus pass rusher or an anchor against the run.
The Stakes for the Defense
Why, then, is Van Ness under the most pressure? Because the Packers’ 2025 aspirations hinge as much on defensive growth as they do offensive stability. Rashan Gary is established, but he needs a running mate who can reliably collapse pockets, win one-on-one battles, and generate turnovers. The post-Smith depth chart is shallow. Note that the Packers declined to invest premium capital at the position in free agency or the draft. As such, Van Ness is penciled in as the starter by default and not by past merit.
The bar isn’t just higher, it’s existential. If Van Ness can’t live up to his pedigree now, with full health and a full-time role, Green Bay may be forced to search for replacements as soon as next offseason. The pressure isn’t hypothetical. It is structural. A first-round pick who fails to deliver is not just a missed opportunity. It's a roster-building blunder that impacts cap room, defensive rotations, and even coaching stability. Van Ness must prove he can thrive under the spotlight, disrupt backfields, and justify the investment that could have gone elsewhere. There is simply no more wiggle room.
Can the Packers’ Bet Pay Off?
Van Ness’s journey from intriguing project to pressured starter is emblematic of the Packers’ broader roster strategy. For years, Green Bay has trusted its draft-and-develop model, using . They have used patience in place of free-agent splurges. That ethos risks backlash when development stalls. The edge room is hungry, but Van Ness must feed it with results: sacks, tackles for loss, and quarterback hits. Every failed pressure, every missed assignment will grow louder, not quieter, as the year unfolds.
Training camp will offer a first glimpse of his new readiness. If his offseason work unlock the baseline athleticism that got him drafted, Van Ness can flip the script.
Someone Has to Deliver
As the 2025 Packers charge into training camp, their ambitions are caught between the hope of emergence and the fear of stagnation. Jordan Love must seize his “now” moment, but equally pivotal is whether Lukas Van Ness can finally become the disruptor Green Bay expected on draft night. If not, another early playoff exit will have Lambeau asking tough questions, all over again.
As eyes fix on camp’s first snap, the answer to Green Bay’s defensive future may rest in the hands of Lukas Van Ness. For his sake, that answer needs to be the right one soon.
