Eight young NFL players whose development could propel their teams in 2025

The Packers have made it known they want to do a better job pressuring opposing passers. They’ve also made it clear they think they have the necessary people in the building, which means there’s confidence in Van Ness showing marked improvement in his third season. Lofty expectations have hovered over him since Green Bay selected him 13th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, but the results have been mixed. So far, he’s produced eight sacks and 17 quarterback hits in his career (including playoffs), which is not nearly enough for a player selected that high. Part of the problem might be circumstances. Van Ness has played for two different coordinators in two seasons, as he lined up as an outside linebacker in Joe Barry’s 3-4 defense as a rookie before switching back to the role of down lineman in the 4-3 system current coordinator Jeff Hafley installed last offseason. It’s possible that Van Ness hasn’t been as productive because he’s had to learn a lot of things on the fly. Of course, the Packers don’t want to think about the other possibility, which is that he just might not be good at bringing quarterbacks down. The Packers enjoyed obvious improvement in Year 1 with Hafley, especially when it came to creating turnovers. However, harassing opposing signal-callers is vital to surviving in the NFC North. The Detroit Lions had the best offense in football last year. Their former offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, is now the head coach of a Chicago Bears team that has loaded up on offense to help Caleb Williams thrive. The Vikings are relying on J.J. McCarthy to be an improvement over Sam Darnold. Even with all those challenges, the Packers can win that division. However, it’s not going to happen unless they can make life difficult for all those quarterbacks, and Van Ness needs to play a huge role in that.