A cheeseburger and a week.

The story from long before the 2013 NFL draft is perhaps apocryphal. The Oklahoma Sooners, a longtime producer of NFL talent on the offensive line, were retooling at the position. Among their more intriguing options was a young defensive lineman, who had been a tight end and before that, a junior college quarterback, but who wouldn't quit gaining weight. As the story goes, Bob Stoops asked the strength coach what it would take to turn one David Lane Johnson into an offensive tackle. "A cheeseburger and a week" was the response.

Less than two years later, new Eagles coaches Chip Kelly and Jeff Stoutland were getting ready for their first draft with the organization. Kelly had eyes on Oregon Edge Dion Jordan, who he had coached in college. Kelly has been widely panned for this interest but it's only fair to point out that he wasn't alone in thinking highly of Jordan. The Dolphins apparently thought even more of the DE and traded a small fortune to steal him from the Eagles, who were left with perhaps their preferred top pick to begin with, the LT from Oklahoma.

I'm just going to copy and paste a quote from draftnik Mike Mayock, who said at the time: “You have a 6-6-plus, 310-pound guy that runs a 4.7 40, that’s faster than [WR] Anquan Boldin did. He’s jumped 34 inches, that’s the same as [WR] AJ Green. He broad jumps 9-foot-10, the same as [RB] Stevan Ridley. So you have a 300-pounder who is putting up numbers at the combine like a skill position player, and everybody around the league and around the country now is starting to realize, wait a minute, we have this unbelievably freakish athlete who has only played a year and a half at left tackle, and every game you put on gets a little better. And how good could he get? That’s what’s fueling all this. Fisher might be safer and Joeckel might be the safest. But this kid’s ceiling is unlimited, and you might have a perennial All-Pro for 10 years, and I think that’s what’s happening.” Johnson's RAS of 9.96 and his absurd spider chart (two draft tools not even in existence at the time) confirm this evaluation. Johnson was a Day One starter at right tackle, needing little if any ramp-up time.

It's worth pointing out that not everything went well from the start with the grand experiment. Johnson wasn't great in his first half dozen or so starts (personally, I had hoped for Utah DT Star Lotulelei and was chagrined that he jumped out ahead of Johnson in nearly every feedback ranking of that year's rookie class). Johnson then took a four game suspension for steroid use and began to exhibit mental health problems. Johnson's worst two seasons by PFF grading occurred in 2013 and 2015 (actually, his 2020 season was his worst, but we don't count anything that happened in 2020). He (and the Eagles) got off to a red hot start in 2016, but then came a ten game suspension for repeated violations of the PED policy, and Johnson's long term future in Philly became an open question.

To Lane's everlasting credit, he straightened himself out in every way (got help for his mental health issues and permanently got off PEDs), and it isn't a coincidence that the righting of his ship coincided with easily the best nine year run in Eagles history. From 2017-2025, the Birds would win 104 games (third in the NFL), five NFC East titles, three NFC Championship games and two Super Bowls. Along with fellow Core Four members Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox, Johnson provided the bridge over the Kelly years between the Andy Reid era to the present. We kept hearing about Lane's eventual move to the left side of the line (the Birds, in keeping with longtime franchise policy, had originally drafted Johnson to be Jason Peters' left tackle in waiting), but as the years went on, it became clear that Johnson was going to stay on the strong side, and was clearly the best in the league at that spot.

Quarterbacks that enjoyed Johnson's protection included Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford, Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew and Kenny Pickett. Didn't matter if the QB was tall or short, was athletic or a statue, an efficient passer or not; each was made better by his presence. Johnson played for three head coaches and nine offensive coordinators and each looked smarter for it. Every running back that played in midnight green from Shady McCoy to Saquon Barkley benefitted from Johnson's ability to crush the end who tried to set the edge, to run the sweep (often in tandem with Kelce, a similarly gifted athletic OL) and to hold up without needing their support in pass protection.

It's difficult to describe in specifics how much Lane has meant to the success of the Eagles in the 13+ years that he's been in Philly, but I'm going to try (stats courtesy of Stathead.com, all games from 2013 on, including playoffs):

STAT	Lane played 50%+ snaps	Lane played <50%
Win/loss %	66.2%	40.4%
Points per game	26.7	21.1
Total offense per game	369.7	332.0
Passing YPG	231.7	217.3
Rushing YPG	138.0	114.7
Rushing yards/carry	4.50	4.44
Passer rating	96.18	81.70
Sack % allowed	6.68%	7.30%

For reference, that gap in yardage is roughly the difference between last year's 49ers (7th in offense) and last year's Saints (23rd). The scoring difference is equivalent to the difference between last year's Patriots (2nd) and Steelers (15th). You get the idea.

Lane has appeared on at least one publication's All Pro team in six different seasons and has made six Pro Bowls. Perhaps most impressively, Johnson was called for just 68 penalties and credited with allowing only 31 sacks in his 171 career games (all of which were starts). Of those, only 13 sacks and 44 penalties were called in the 121 games played from 2017 on. Because there isn't much in the way of statistics for offensive linemen, it's hard to prove to someone who isn't an Eagles fan just how good this guy has been, but I gave it my best shot. Take my word (and the word of anyone who watched this guy play): there hasn't been a better lineman in this sport over the past 13 seasons. He goes out nearly on top, currently ranking 5th among qualifying OTs on PFF.

Lane, you likely won't ever see this, but thanks for the memories. Thanks for being an irreplaceable part of many of the best sports memories I've ever had. We'll see your number with the other Eagle greats sooner than later, and we'll see your bronze bust in Canton. I hope retirement brings you peace.

How do the Eagles replace Lane Johnson?

In the very short term, the answer will depend on how highly they thought of Markel Bell's impromptu performance on Sunday. They clearly drafted this guy with an eye on Johnson's eventual retirement. Bell wasn't great in that game but one can hardly be too upset with his performance, seeing as he wasn't practicing to be the starter and had no idea he would play until 90 minutes before kickoff. If the staff was OK with what they saw, it might behoove them to give Bell a longer run to see what they have. If there's little or no confidence there, they could turn to veteran reserves Fred Johnson or John Ojukwu (31 career starts between them). Don't rule out a veteran addition either.

Long term, my hope is that they give Bell a decent run as the starter this year to find out if there's anything there. The offense really can't be much worse than it has been over the first month of the season, so what's really to lose? If they don't feel that he's the long term answer, I would look for the Birds to spend a first or second round pick on a tackle, for the first time since 2019.