This is Season 12 for right tackle Lane Johnson, so accept apologies if you have heard this many, many times previously: the best at his position in the NFL continues to win on every snap of the football every week of this 2024 season. The question is not in any way about Johnson's status in the NFL, it's more of a question of how he continues to play at such a high level.
Every game.
Every season.
And it really comes down to this for the Eagles' first-round pick in 2013, a player who has earned four All-Pro selections and has been picked for the Pro Bowl five times: He's just better than everyone else because he has the combination of great size, great athleticism, great work ethic, football IQ, and coachability.
"On top of the fact that he's so talented and so quick, he uses the technique that he's been taught, and it's all over the film," Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland said. "Not only is he physically freakish, he's technically sound. Together with those two things, I don't know who's better."
The answer is, nobody is better. An Eagles offense that leads the NFL in rushing and that has been so balanced and explosive is leaning on Johnson and the offensive line to set the tone. That group is doing so, with Johnson in the driver's seat. Here are some analytics that stand out …
- According to Pro Football Focus, Johnson is ranked as the No. 4 overall tackle (88.8 grade) and the No. 2 right tackle
- His current overall grade would be second highest of his career (2019, 90.2)
- Johnson has 0 sacks allowed in 267 pass block snaps
- He has allowed just 1 quarterback hit and 3 quarterback hurries
- Johnson's current run-blocking grade of 84.2 would be his highest since 2019
- According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Johnson has actually improved after his outstanding 2023 campaign. After allowing a 10.2 percent pressure rate in the 2023 season, Johnson has posted his lowest pressure rate (5.8% percent) this season since at least 2018 (the first year of NFL's Next Gen Stats).
How? Why? In Year 12 and still at the top?
"Consistency is key. Consistency is everything to be great at this position," left tackle Jordan Mailata said. "Lane embodies that with his playing style, with his determination, his work ethic. You see it every day. Consistency. That's why he's one of the greats. And it's hard. When you're chasing greatness, consistency is your biggest foe. Because that's what it means to be great. Are you showing up time and time again, playing at the same standard, and I think Lane embodies that.
"I'm chasing Lane as he chases greatness."
Mekhi Becton thinks he is a better player being next to Johnson at the right guard position. Becton has found a home. He has been outstanding, and while a lot has to do with his assimilation to a new position after being mostly a tackle in his seasons with the New York Jets, some of it, he says, is attributed to Johnson.
"He helps me on the play calls. He helps me see things that I wouldn't see. He uplifts me. He supports me," Becton said. "I can't find anything wrong with him. He's like a big brother I never had."
Johnson on this day is changing into his civilian clothes late in the afternoon and is about to head home. How is it that he is so great? Does it really come down to consistency, blended in with all of that ability?
"I've got a routine," Johnson said. "I stick to it. Every year I try to evaluate how the season goes and stuff I need to work on and attack my weaknesses. That's really it. I stay consistent with my routine and I think over time in the second half of my career I'm a lot stronger player than I was earlier in my career. Physically stronger. It has made a world of difference."
The great news is that Johnson is on top of his game and that greatly aids the Eagles' offense. He is a pillar of power at right tackle, the best at his position for a long time, with no end in sight.
