Eagles star Lane Johnson called 'noisy' and overrated by NFL executive

Finish this sentence. They don't like us... Okay, there's a small part of us that cares. The underdog mentality has fueled the City of Brotherly Love for as long as most of us have been walking the planet, and in a town that loves its sports, the heroes are both real (Joe Frazier) and imagined (Rocky Balboa), but there's something about picking yourself off of the canvas like fiction's 'Italian Stallion' or silencing the doubters like the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles, so we'll say it again.

Maybe we care if they hate us to some degree. Where would we be without the haters and detractors? They make those great moments even more satisfying. Don't look now, but they seem to have fixated their gaze on the game's best offensive tackle, Philly's own Lane Johnson.

Eagles star Lane Johnson recently took an anonymous shot from an unnamed NFL executive that doesn't seem to be drinking the Kool-aid.

Last year, we complained about there being contact-free practices, zero OTA sessions, and before that, colorful illustrations about potted flowers. Guess what? As it turned out, Eagles head coach NIck Sirianni knew his team better than we did, so heading into his third full season, he has earned the trust of Birds fans. With that being said, if he says Lane Johnson is the game's top offensive tackle, that's good enough for us.

It appears there's at least one NFL executive that disagrees though. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler polled execs, coaches, and scouts before ranking the NFL's top ten offensive tackles ahead of the 2023 NFL season. You'll need an ESPN Plus subscription to read this one as it sits behind a paywall. With that being said, we won't share any quotes. Here's what we will tell you though.

Fowler spoke with an AFC executive who stated Lane was a "premier player" that is an "incredibly gifted athlete with force", but another NFC executive stated Johnson is an overhyped player that benefits from playing in a run-pass-option offense that helps him limit sacks. Our guy offered his response on Twitter.

The unnamed executive also added that Johnson "gets a lot of credit for being noisy and playing on a good team." Yeah... When you spew that sort of nonsense, it's probably best that you don't attach your name to it. We're talking about a two-time First-Team All-Pro (2017, 2022) that earned Second-Team All-Pro honors in 2021 and has four Pro Bowl nods and counting on his resume. If he continues on the plane he is on, we probably need to begin discussing some potential Pro Football Hall of Fame votes.

For now, we're hoping for a great Eagles season and that Number 65 uses this as some added motivation.

Truthfully, we don't have any idea who may have said this, but if we're being honest, we're kind of wondering if this came from some guys in the Bay Area who shall remain nameless. Hey! You see how they have handled themselves.

No, we don't have any proof of anything to that effect. Still, with less than ten days separating us from another Eagles training camp, we're just throwing ideas out there. Something tells us this will circulate for another month or so until Lane gets asked about this in a press conference, and then, we can put this to bed for good when Lane earns another All-Pro nod or something.

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