Eagles debate table: Is Lane Johnson a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate?

Lane Johnson is most certainly Hall-of-Fame worthy, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

Playing during two decades of football will make it tough on Johnson who’s, without question, an NFL success story. Again, you never know how these things will play out though.

In the meantime, let’s make long stories short. We asked if Lane Johnson is Hall-of-Fame worthy. The answer to that question is yes, but there’s one more stumbling block that may delay him from receiving the call.

3. Lane is also competing with other greats who are also awaiting induction.

Playing during two decades of football will make it tough on Johnson who’s, without question, an NFL success story. Again, we’ve said this already, but it bears repeating. You never know how the voters view these things.

We expect that there will be great tackles that find their way to the Hall years before Lane is eligible, Joe Thomas and Joe Staley for instance, but what if other guys of this era are still waiting for their calls like David Bakhtiari? How long will he play? When might he become eligible if he continues to prove himself worthy? What about some of the other great tackles of the past?

What about other great Eagles who may rank higher in the minds of HOF voters, Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas for instance? Successful arguments can be made for them being more deserving, and while we’re on the subject, we have to bring up Jason Kelce.

Sure, he plays another position, but he’s also a proud member of the Eagles fraternity. Would HOF voters send three great Eagles of the same era (Kelce, Peters, and Johnson) to Canton? None of us would have an issue with that, but is that a realistic scenario?

We’ll put an asterisk by all of these questions for now. After all, Lane Johnson is still playing. Perhaps another Pro Bowl or two will do the trick, and everyone will see the light.

He was robbed of an all-star mention in 2022, but he’s still playing at an elite level. If he continues to do so for a few more seasons, there may be no way to deny him his place among football’s immortals.

You can best believe that Birds fans everywhere are pulling for him. He’s a shoo-in for the Eagles Hall of Fame, but his resume for Canton, Ohio is still being written.