Photo by Charlie Neibergall - Associated Press

Height	Weight	Arm Length	Hand Size
6'5"	272 lbs.	34"	11"

40 Yard Dash	Bench Press	Vertical Jump	Broad Jump	3-Cone Drill	20 Yard Shuttle
4.58 Sec	17 Reps	31"	9'10"	7.02 Sec	4.32 Sec

Games	Tackles	Tackles for Loss	Sacks	Pass Defended	Interceptions	Forced Fumbles	Touchdowns
26	70	19.0	13.0	1	0.0	0.0	0.0

Pros

• Elite athletic build for the position that projects well to the NFL. 

• Exceptional upper body strength throughout his frame.

• Lengthy arms can be overwhelming for offensive lineman to deal with.

• Comes out of his stance with an explosive first step. 

• Keeps his pads consistently low throughout rush to maintain leverage.

• Has one of the best bull rushes in the draft when he puts everything together technically.

• Drives opposing lineman back into the pocket with ease.

• Powerful punch often can upend offensive lineman.

• Very nasty defender to deal with in the trenches that will fight through every play until it ends.

• Holds his ground well in run defense. 

• Takes good tackling angles when running down ball carriers.

• Great change of direction in the open field to corral runners.

• Non-stop motor on the field has given him plenty of second effort plays.

• 2 blocked punts in his short career at Iowa.

• University of Iowa has long tradition of putting highly successful draft prospects into the NFL.

COns

• Only 26 games under his belt which shows a lack of experience to his game.

• Hand fighting capabilities need considerable work as he struggles to disengage from blockers.

 

• Lacks much positional versatility.

 

• Bull rush seems to be his only move to his game.

 

• Timing when disengaging from bull rush is off.

 

• Late to recognize location of the quarterback as a pass rusher, often playing catch up rather than chasing down.

• Lacks counter rush moves in his arsenal.

Overview

When you have the nickname Hercules, you definitely can pull off magnificent feats of strength while looking the part and Lukas Van Ness definitely fits the herculean mold. His power, explosiveness, and overall athleticism for his size is a menacing and enticing blend and NFL teams looking for project that could turn into a pass rush phenom need to keep an eye on him for draft day. What's going to likely hurt his stock during the draft will be his inexperience and lack of games under his belt and raw technique as defensive lineman because he needs considerable work an polishing to become a much more consistent rusher. He's one of the biggest boom-or-bust prospects in this draft and with the right coach, he could be a phenom on the defensive line.