2 Philadelphia Eagles lineman pop up on a recent top-ten ranking
Two Philadelphia Eagles had a little light shone on them in a recent ranking. Jason Peters and Lane Johnson were ranked among PFF’s top ten offensive tackles.
We can question slow starts, offensive production, and just how much Philadelphia Eagles franchise quarterback Carson Wentz is asked to do on his own, but there’s never been a need to question one thing about Philly’s offense. If the line is healthy, they’re among the best in the league. A big part of that is the bookends, Jason Peters and Lane Johnson.
Recently, the stat gurus over at Pro Football Focus pieced together a piece on the NFL’s ten best offensive tackles. The future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Peters, who’s also a nine-time Pro Bowl nod (seven of those nominations came in Philly) and Lane Johnson, who’s no stranger to the Pro Bowl himself (two nods in 2017 and 2018), made the list. If everything, works out according to plan, we’ll be seeing a lot of Andre Dillard in these conversations when Peters finally decides to call it a career.
Here’s some of what PFF said on the subject of Peters:
"The Eagles drafted Peters’ long term replacement in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft this offseason, but the 16-year veteran looks far from finished on the left side of the Eagles line. He has yet to allow a sack on 202 pass-blocking snaps so far this season, giving up just three hits and six hurries."
Here’s the skinny on Johnson:
"Peters’ teammate at the opposite side of the line is up next, and they form a pair of bookends who have yet to concede a sack. On the field for 212 pass-blocking snaps in 2019 so far, Johnson has allowed two hits and nine hurries and has also produced a 76.1 PFF run-blocking grade on 144 run-blocking snaps."
The top five looks like this: La’el Collins of the Dallas Cowboys (1), Mitchell Schwartz of the Kansas City Chiefs (2), Anthony Castonzo of the Indianapolis Colts (3), Ryan Ramczyk of the New Orleans Saints (4), and Ronnie Stanley of the Baltimore Ravens (5).
Peters and Johnson land at eight and nine respectively. The rest of the top ten looks like this: Matt Feiler of the Pittsburgh Steelers (6), Tyron Smith of the Dallas Cowboys (7), and Laremy Tunsil of the Houston Texans (10).
You can probably argue about positioning, but it’s hard to debate about any of the names on the list.