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Obviously, the biggest questions about the Green Bay Packers’ edge rusher unit all revolve around Micah Parsons. When will he return? What will he look like when he’s back on the field? Who will step up in his place until he comes back?
Beyond the Parsons of it all, let’s take a look at the other edge rushers on the team and give you a preview of what is to come in the latest edition of our roster preview.
For the first time since high school, Lukas Van Ness became a situational starter in 2025. Van Ness’ best trait is probably that he can play on the edge but also kick inside to defensive tackle in obvious passing situations, though he might not have the freedom to do so in 2026 until Parsons is back from his ACL tear.
One of the big questions, too, is how the Packers will manage Van Ness’ snaps on special teams if he does take over a starting role. For the majority of his career, Van Ness has been on the punt team, which means that he’s starting defensive drives after doing a 40-plus-yard sprint, possibly a factor in why he hasn’t been pushed into a starting role until injuries forced Green Bay’s hand.
You could argue, and I would, that Van Ness’ best play in his career came from mid to late 2025, even though he dealt with a nagging foot injury. To me, he was the best player on the field for the Packers in their loss against the Baltimore Ravens, for example.
At just 24 years old, he’s still younger than some of the undrafted rookie free agents that Green Bay signed this offseason. The team also just picked up his fifth-year option, so they clearly still believe that the former first-round pick is developing.
I’m not sure LVN will ever be a double-digit sack player, just because of how much the Packers have used him on the interior, but I am optimistic that he could be an above-average starter for them and a quality number two option when Parsons comes back.
Right now, the player who stands to gain the most with Micah Parsons out, from a playing time perspective, is probably 2025 fourth-round pick Barryn Sorrell. He is probably the favorite to be the starter opposite of Lukas Van Ness, based on last year’s rotation. It doesn’t hurt him that the team also moved off Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare, who were also ahead of Sorrell on the depth chart in 2025.
Last year, Sorrell made one start and played 20 percent of the team’s defensive snaps over 14 games. Like Van Ness, he’s another run game edge setter who can play some snaps inside on obvious passing downs.
Next in line, and probably the biggest threat to Barryn Sorrell for the starting role right now, is Brenton Cox Jr., whose pressure numbers over the years have been...
