The Green Bay Packers are absolutely stacked on defense.
However, they might have to get a little creative right now.
With Devonte Wyatt out with an injury, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will have to tweak things.
As pointed out by Packers Realm on X, the team could deploy Lukas Van Ness at defensive tackle:
“There’s a growing belief that Lukas Van Ness will get additional reps at DT amidst Devonte Wyatt’s injury. Hafley played around with Van Ness at the tackle spot during the offseason, and the 3rd-year pro has already logged 34 snaps from the interior in 2025,” via PackersRealm.
There's a growing belief that Lukas Van Ness will get additional reps at DT amidst Devonte Wyatt's injury.
Hafley played around with Van Ness at the tackle spot during the offseason, and the 3rd-year pro has already logged 34 snaps from the interior in 2025. pic.twitter.com/WcbZ8oALNT
— PackersRealm (@PackersRealm) October 6, 2025
Micah Parsons predicted that this could be a breakout year for Van Ness, as having him by his side would only open up plenty of lanes for him.
This might be an opportunity to prove him right.
While he may not have the ideal size to play the position, Van Ness has great instincts and lateral quickness, and he holds his ground like the best of them with his raw power.
The Packers have been pretty good at stopping the run for most of the season, and he will have to step up to make the most of the extended run.
This team is coming off its worst defensive performance of the season, and Jeff Hafley has certainly made some major adjustments during the bye week.
It’ll be interesting to see how this experiment turns out.
Fortunately for them, they will host a slumping Cincinnati Bengals team that may have hit rock bottom in Week 5, and they could have the struggling Joe Flacco under center after potentially moving on from Jake Browning.
That leaves the door wide open for Van Ness and company to dominate at the line of scrimmage against a shaky offensive line.
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