Eagles RT Lane Johnson: Still One Of The Elite Despite Injury-Shortened Season

The right tackle with the Hall of Fame resume played well in the 10 games before a foot injury sidelines him in 2025.

Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson goes through practice as the team prepares to host the San Francisco 49ers in a wild-card game on Sunday. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

You didn’t expect the big right tackle with the Hall of Fame resume to drop out of the top five, did you? Hope not, because that just wasn’t happening.

Despite missing half the season with a foot injury, Lane Johnson was playing pretty darn good until he came up gimpy, but the 10 games he played before the injury were of the same high quality he has played his entire career.

That is why Johnson is No. 3 on our list of the top 25 best current players compiled by the staff at Eagles on Sports Illustrated. He played well, even though he didn’t play the entire season.

The list was compiled by this year’s staff – Jeff Kerr, John McMullen, and Ed Kracz. Players were ranked from one through 25, with first place landing one point, second two points, and so on down to 25 points for 25th place.

Jonhson finished with 10 points. He was second on Kracz’s list, third on Kerr’s, and fifth on McMullen’s.

Right Tackle Wants To Put Last Year Behind Him

Lane Johnson talked about the dog days of training camp at age 35. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

“I thought I was having a really good season last year,” said Lane Johnson in early June. “Man, there was nobody more disappointed than me not being able to come in and play, to finish it out. I didn’t want to go out that way. I think as far as performance-wise, I was still performing the same as I always have. Just ... I had this foot injury.

“I’ve been able to play through stuff throughout the years, but this was just something that it took time. That’s something I didn’t have at that point in the season. It was probably around February, March when I started feeling 100 percent. But it took some time for it to heal out. I didn’t want to go out on that note last year.”

So, Johnson is back. He’s healthy, and this might be the last time he is on this list if he he plays every game and the Eagles go to the Super Bowl. Again.

If you’ve been following along, you know there are still two obvious names left. The question is, which player will be No. 1, and which one will be No. 2. The answers come on Tuesday and Wednesday.

If you’ve missed the list so far, here it is:

Here is the top-25 list so far:

No. 25 – Tank Bigsby

No. 24 – Jake Elliott

No. 23 – Makai Lemon

No. 22 – Braden Mann

No. 21 – Drew Mukuba

No. 20 – Tyler Steen

No. 19 – Jihaad Campbell

No. 18 – Nolan Smith

No. 17 – Riq Woolen

No. 16 – Cam Jurgens

No. 15 – Jalyx Hunt

No. 14 – Moro Ojomo

No. 13 – Dallas Goedert

No. 12 – Jonathan Greenard

No. 11 – Landon Dickerson

No. 10 – Jordan Davis

No. 9 – Jalen Hurts

No. 8 – Jordan Mailata

No. 7 – DeVonta Smith

No. 6 – Zack Baun

No. 5 – Jalen Carter

No. 4 – Saquon Barkley

No. 3 – Lane Johnson