Eagles Top 25 Best Players Countdown: Consistent Veteran Lands At No. 2

Veteran right tackle Lane Johnson remains at the top of his game in Year 12.

Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson (65) against the Arizona Cardinals at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - Mount Rushmore has become a tired cliche in sports talk so how about an Old Faithful?

For the Philadelphia Eagles that designation is easy. Four-time All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson is as consistent as they come and an enormous luxury for every coach he’s toiled for through his first 11 NFL seasons in the City of Brotherly Love.

Johnson, 34, lands at No. 2 in Sports Illustrated’s 2024 Top 25 Eagles rankings put together by Eagles on SI’s beat reporters Ed Kracz and John McMullen.

The list has become an annual affair as the two reporters submit their top 25 lists simultaneously so each would be unaffected by the others. No. 1 on the list is awarded 25 points and so on down the list with No. 25 receiving one point.

Johnson was a unanimous choice at No. 2 on the lists of McMullen and Kracz.

Game planning is an easier exercise in Philadelphia than other cities because there is no need to help Johnson, or left tackle Jordan Mailata for that matter. Other teams have to scheme to help their OTs against top-tier pass rushers while the Eagles stick their duo on an island and focus on other things.

Against Johnson, even superstar pass rushers like Dallas’ Micah Parsons and San Francisco's Nick Bosa tend to look like mere mortals and end up as the frustrated ones in the marquee matchups. 

An imposing blend of size, speed, strength, and athleticism, you can add in the fact that the 6-foot-6, 325-pound veteran now understands all the tricks of the trade with over a decade of experience.

Johnson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2013 draft out of Oklahoma, has outplayed his impressive pedigree and is one of three OTs in franchise history to be named to multiple All-Pro teams, joining one of his mentors, Jason Peters, as well as Pro Football Hall of Famer Bob Brown.

Flashback to the 2022 Super Bowl season and Johnson completed an amazing feat, becoming the only OT who did not surrender a sack and perhaps more impressively, not even a quarterback hit despite playing 974 offensive snaps.

The scouting report on Father Time is that his famous scythe catches up with everyone.

To date, Johnson has stoned the personification of time like any other rusher trying to bend around the edge against the Eagles.

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