Lane Johnson Reveals His Toughest Pass Rushers: ‘So Unique!’

Lane Johnson has played against some of the best pass rushers the NFL has to offer now and some of the best in the past. Entering his 11th NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles right tackle has been around long enough to offer an opinion on that.

He appeared on a recent episode of The Richard Sherman podcast and was asked to name some of the toughest pass rushers he ever went against. Johnson also gave his take on quarterback Jalen Hurts and former teammates Nick Foles and Ndamukong Suh.

His list of the best pass rushers:

• Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns

• Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders

• T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers

“They’re all so unique,” he said. “Those guys obviously are skilled, but those players are so smart. They look at your stances and they’re looking at your eyes, so some stuff you might be able to get away with some guys, but with those three you have to be at your best.”

Johnson wasn’t done with his list after those three.

He mentioned a pair of Dallas Cowboys – Micah Parsons and DeMmarcus Lawrence – and had plenty of praise for Oliver Vernon of the Miami Dolphins.

“You can ask Trent (Williams of the San Francisco 49ers), you can ask Tyron (Smith of the Dallas Cowboys), Olivier Vernon may be the hardest for a lot of guys to block,” said Johnson. “He’s a weird-built dude, 6-1, 6-2, but wears like a size 17, 18 shoe, just a weird build.”

Same thing, Johnson said, with another former pass-rush standout – Elvis Dumervil, who compiled 105.5 sacks in 11 NFL seasons from 2006-2017.

“Elvis Dumervil was so special because he was 5-11, but he had 33-, 34-inch arms,” said Johnson. “As he got that leverage under you, he could just forklift and do whatever he wanted to you.”

Johnson hasn’t given up a sack since the 2020 season, though he admitted to being lucky this season after Houston Texans edge rusher Jerry Hughes beat him only to watch as Jalen Hurts escaped.

Speaking of Hurts … 

“He’s a guy, he doesn’t say a whole lot but when he does it has a lot of wisdom to it,” Johnson said. “... A lot of guys can rah-rah but he does a lot with his body language, and how he works.”

Here’s more from Johnson:

On Foles, who led the Eagles to their lone Super Bowl title and was the game MVP after outdueling the New England Patriots Tom Brady: “He came in and had that good run. The thing about him is he has no ego when it comes to football. I feel guys flock to that energy. He plays loose and I feel like in those two or three games (in 2017) did a nice job for us.”

On Suh: “(He) is all business all the time. I really had a good time hanging with Suh. He was no BS. He wasn’t around for jokes. He would crack a joke with you now and then but he’s about watching his finances and working out and being the best he can be.”

Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.