Best photos of DL Lukas Van Ness with the Hawkeyes

After a very successful redshirt freshman season, defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness is ready to really come into his own entering 2022. The 6-foot-5, 264 pound defensive lineman finished tied for the team lead with seven sacks in 2021.

Van Ness had 8.5 tackles for loss, which trailed only Zach VanValkenburg’s 15 tackles for loss a season ago. The Barrington, Ill., native added three quarterback hurries, one pass breakup and had 33 total tackles in 2021.

Now, Van Ness will be one of the featured defensive players up front. According to Pro Football Focus, Van Ness saw 462 snaps last season along Iowa’s defensive line and in the box. For comparison’s sake, VanValkenburg recorded 807 snaps on the Hawkeyes’ defensive line and in the box in 2021.

With that in mind, it’s fair to expect Van Ness’ production to approach the neighborhood of doubling what Iowa fans saw from him last season. CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli certainly thinks so. Fornelli’s Big Ten spring football overreaction for the Hawkeyes was for Van Ness to terrorize backfields in 2022.

At the rate Van Ness is going, it might not be much of an overreaction at all. Van Ness’ Hawkeye career is just getting started, but he’s been involved in plenty of highlight-reel plays already. Here’s a look at Van Ness’ Iowa career thus far through these fantastic photos.