Many of the Eagles' old guard have moved on.
Right tackle Lane Johnson remains, and at 35 years old believes he's still on the ascent ahead of his 13th NFL season.
"I feel like I'm getting close to maybe my peak," Johnson said this week, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. "As weird as it is to say, but that's truly how I feel."
Johnson is one of just two players currently on the Eagles roster to have won both Super Bowl LII and Super Bowl LIX with the team. Kicker Jake Elliott joins him in having that distinction. Defensive end Brandon Graham was there for both but retired in March, as was longtime long snapper Rick Lovato, currently a free agent.
Having gone four seasons without a major accolade, Johnson finally arrived during the 2017 campaign, making his first Pro Bowl and first All-Pro team to go along with Philly's Super Bowl title. Now with six total Pro Bowls and another All-Pro nod under his belt, it's difficult to argue he's only gotten better.
"I feel like even though I'm 35, I feel better than I was when I started (or when I was) 29 or 30," Johnson said. "I had the (ankle) surgeries and so for me the toughest year was '21 and you can go back and watch it, you can clearly see on film, I was very hindered with my left foot."
His injury-shortened 2020 season and the subsequent 2021 campaign are indeed the only years he's failed to make the Pro Bowl since reaching his first. Johnson has been a godsend for the Eagles, proving nearly impenetrable at right tackle for the better part of a decade.
In 2024, he received a 90.6 PFF offensive grade, the best in his career. His 88.7 pass blocking grade was his second-best mark thus far, while his 85.4 run block grade stands third. He allowed one sack last season for the fifth time in his career. Johnson's 2.6 pressure percentage allowed ranks third in his career; his 98.6 pass block efficiency ranks tied for second.
Much credit belongs to running back Saquon Barkley and the rest of the offensive line helping forge the way, but Johnson is also fresh off anchoring a unit that produced just the ninth 2,000-yard rushing season by an individual in NFL history.
With such a storied tenure in Philadelphia, Johnson still compiling seasons of the career-best variety is quite the marvel -- so much so that he suggested introducing a combine for players with 10-plus years of experience, just to compare with past results.
We may be waiting a while on a graybeard combine, but the Eagles are only a few months away from mounting their title defense come September.
They'll again be counting on Johnson to clear lanes as effectively as he buys time for Jalen Hurts and the passing offense.
There's few -- if any -- naysayers regarding Johnson's talent at this point.
He'll gladly listen to any whisperings of a fall off, though, if it helps motivate him ahead of yet another campaign.
"Yeah, with anything you read, you try to change," Johnson said. "If somebody has a bad opinion of you, hopefully you can get out there in the field and maybe, change their narrative on you. The only way how is to be more violent. For me that's what it's going to take."
