When the Green Bay Packers drafted Lukas Van Ness in the first round in 2023, they bypassed future stars Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Christian Gonzalez, who will both play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 8.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Since Brett Favre began leading a football renaissance in tiny Green Bay back in 1992, the Packers have held a top-13 draft pick just six times.
The Packers hit a home run with nose tackle B.J. Raji in 2009, who went No. 9 overall and shined before abruptly retiring after seven seasons. Green Bay fared OK with linebacker A.J. Hawk at No. 5 in 2006 and defensive end Rashan Gary at No. 12 in 2019. The Packers also whiffed on defensive end Jamal Reynolds (No. 10 in 2001) and cornerback Terrell Buckley (No. 5 in 1992).
Early returns also suggest Green Bay swung and missed at the top of the 2023 draft. And when Packer Nation tunes in for Super Bowl LX, they could have painful flashbacks, wondering what could have been?
Green Bay held the 13th pick in the first round that year and had a handful of needs. The biggest were at wide receiver, tight end, defensive end, outside linebacker and cornerback.
Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst selected defensive end Lukas Van Ness at No. 13. Van Ness was a gifted, physical specimen who seemingly had a world of upside, but had also never started a game during his time at Iowa.
Four picks later, New England — which will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl on Feb. 8 — took cornerback Christian Gonzalez. In less than three seasons, Gonzalez has been named All-Pro once, gone to one Pro Bowl and quickly become one of the top corners in the NFL.
Then at pick No. 20, Seattle general manager John Schneider — a former Packers executive from DePere, Wis. who has now led the Seahawks to three Super Bowl appearances — selected wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. In just three years, “JSN” has become arguably the best receiver in football.
Van Ness, on the other hand, has had an underwhelming start to his career. In 43 career games, Van Ness has just 8.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss and it’s uncertain whether the Packers will pick up his fifth-year option for the 2027 season.
Think how different things could have been had Gutekunst gone with either Gonzalez or JSN instead of Van Ness.
Let’s start with Smith-Njigba, who led the NFL in receiving yards this season (1,793), was fourth in receptions (119) and sixth in touchdown receptions (10). Gutekunst certainly isn’t the only G.M. who regrets passing on “JSN”, but considering how the Packers’ wide receiver group looked at the time, that decision is doubly painful.
Green Bay entered the 2023 draft with a gaping hole at wide receiver. Second-year players Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure were the lone holdovers from a wideout room that had lost Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown the previous year.
“We’re going to have to add to that room,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said that offseason.
They did, but not until they bypassed “JSN” and others for Van Ness.
There wasn’t a consensus No. 1 wide receiver that year, and amazingly, four straight wideouts were selected between picks No. 20-23.
Ohio State’s Smith-Njigba was the first to come off the board at No. 20 to Seattle. TCU’s Quentin Johnson immediately followed at No. 21 to the Los Angeles Chargers, then Baltimore took Boston College’s Zay Flowers at No. 22 and Minnesota snagged USC’s Jordan Addison at No. 23.
Smith-Njigba (6-1, 196) had been limited to just three games in his final season at OSU due to a hamstring injury. But “JSN” had also averaged 192.0 receiving yards the final five games of 2021 and showed terrific toughness in the middle of the field.
During his brief time with the Seahawks, he’s proven virtually unguardable, despite the fact Seattle lacks top pass catchers around him.
Green Bay addressed wide receiver later in the draft, taking Jayden Reed in Round 2, Dontayvion Wicks in the fifth and Grant DuBose in the seventh. Reed has been a solid player, Wicks has been mediocre, at best, and DuBose played just one game in Green Bay.
Had the Packers drafted “JSN”, it’s not a stretch to think an offense including Jordan Love, Watson, Doubs, Tucker Kraft and Josh Jacobs would have been the NFL’s best this season.
Green Bay’s need at cornerback wasn’t as pressing. Then again, NFL teams always need corners.
Jaire Alexander was still playing at a high level and had signed a four-year, $84 million contract just 11 months earlier, so the Packers felt they had a No. 1 corner. Rasul Douglas and Eric Stokes provided respectable options on the other side.
It would have tough to predict that all three of those players would bottom out in the next year, or so, but that’s exactly what happened.
Holding the 13th pick in the draft, the Packers certainly could have found their No. 1 corner of the future.
Devon Witherspoon was the consensus No. 1 corner that year and went No. 5 overall to Seattle. The next corner taken was Emanuel Forbes to Washington at No. 16, then New England took Gonzalez at No. 17.
Forbes was waived midway through his second season with the Commanders and his performance has been up and down with the Los Angeles Rams since.
Had the Packers targeted Gonzalez, though, they’d be reaping the benefits today. Gonzalez was a second-team all-Pro in 2024 and made the Pro Bowl this season. His interception in the final minutes of Sunday’s AFC Championship helped the Patriots finish off their 10-7 win.
The rest of Gutekunst’s draft was solid as he landed Reed in Round 2, Kraft in the third and defensive tackles Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks in Rounds 4 and 6, respectively.
More often than not, though, you find superstars at the top of drafts — players that help you reach Super Bowls.
Both Seattle and New England did that in 2023, finding standouts after Gutekunst had taken Van Ness. Those standouts will be playing in Super Bowl LX, while Green Bay’s Super Bowl drought moves to a 16th season next fall.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robreischel/2026/01/27/the-packers-decision-to-draft-lukas-van-ness-will-be-doubly-painful-on-super-bowl-sunday/
