Background and career
David Lane Johnson (born May 8, 1990) is an American former professional football offensive tackle who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football for the Kilgore Rangers before transferring to the Oklahoma Sooners, and was selected by the Eagles fourth overall in the 2013 NFL draft. Johnson made three Super Bowl appearances with the Eagles, winning two (LII, LIX). He was a two-time first-team All-Pro, three-time second All-Pro, and six-time Pro Bowl selection.
Johnson was born in Groveton, Texas, and attended Groveton High School, where he played football and competed in track. In football, he was an honorable mention All-state selection as a quarterback, and was named All-district. In track and field, Johnson competed in the throwing events. He earned a fourth-place finish in the shot put event at the 2008 UIL 1A State Championships, with a top-throw of 15.21 meters (49 ft 7 in).
Johnson attended Kilgore College, a junior college in East Texas, and played quarterback and tight end for the Kilgore Rangers football team for the 2008 season. In his sole year at Kilgore, Johnson amassed 510 passing yards for 3 touchdowns and 7 interceptions with a 52.4% completion rate while at quarterback. After his freshman year, he transferred to the University of Oklahoma, where he played for the Oklahoma Sooners football team from 2009 to 2012. Originally serving as a practice squad quarterback during his redshirt season, he transitioned to tight end in the fall of 2010 and switched again to defensive end for the spring of 2011. After two starting linemen went down with injuries at the beginning of the 2011 fall season, offensive line coach Bruce Kittle asked multiple players, including Johnson, to try out as back-up linemen to fill in the missing roster depth. Kittle was amazed by Johnson's footwork and natural pass blocking abilities and immediately switched him to offensive tackle. Two games later, Johnson would be named the Sooners' starting right tackle, and he would start the remaining 12 games of the season. As a senior in 2012, he switched to left tackle and started 11 of 13 games. and was named a third-team All-American by CBSSports.com. He was inducted into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame on June 25, 2023. Johnson was named to the Senior Bowl 75th Anniversary Team in November 2023.
On December 21, 2012, it was announced that Johnson and teammate Landry Jones had accepted their invitations to the 2013 Senior Bowl. Throughout Senior Bowl practices, Johnson demonstrated impressive footwork, body control, and balance while diagnosing pass rushes and disrupting them. He was named a top standout during practice by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks and immensely helped his draft stock to put himself in the first round discussion. On January 26, 2013, he played offensive tackle in the Reese's Senior Bowl and was part of Detroit Lions' head coach Jim Schwartz's South team that defeated the North 21–16. Johnson was one of 57 collegiate offensive linemen that attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He completed all of the combine drills and finished first in the vertical jump and second amongst all offensive linemen in the 40-yard dash and broad jump. On March 13, 2013, Johnson attended Oklahoma's pro day, along with Landry Jones, Tony Jefferson, Demontre Hurst, Kenny Stills, Stacy McGee, and 19 other prospects. During the draft process, Johnson attended multiple private workouts and visits, including the Carolina Panthers, New York Jets, and Philadelphia Eagles. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Johnson was projected to be a guaranteed first-round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts and was projected be a top ten selection. He was ranked the third best offensive tackle prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, NFL analyst Mike Mayock, and NFL analyst Josh Norris.
The Eagles selected Johnson in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2013 NFL draft. He was the third offensive tackle selected in 2013, behind Central Michigan's Eric Fisher and Texas A&M's Luke Joeckel. On July 20, 2013, the Eagles signed Johnson to a four-year, $19.85 million contract with a signing bonus of $12.81 million. He entered training camp behind veteran Dennis Kelly on the Eagles depth chart. He competed against Kelly for the starting right tackle role throughout training camp. He became the apparent starting right tackle during training camp when it was reported that Kelly would miss the majority of the season after undergoing back surgery. He made his first career start and professional regular season debut in the Eagles' season-opening 33–27 victory at the Washington Redskins. He started all 16 regular season games as a rookie and helped the Eagles finish first in the NFC East with a 10–6 record. On January 4, 2014, Johnson started his first career playoff game as the Eagles lost to the New Orleans Saints 26–24 in the NFC Wildcard game. He was ranked as the 26th best right tackle by Pro Football Focus in 2013.
On June 30, 2014, it was reported that Johnson had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and would be suspended for the first four games of the 2014 season. Although Johnson missed the first four games of the season, he allowed only one sack in the remainder of the year and started 14 consecutive games while being graded as the second best right tackle and was ranked the 13th overall offensive linemen by Pro Football Focus. Pro Football Focus named Johnson to the 2014 PFF All-Pro Team. The Eagles finished second in the NFC East with a 10–6 record and did not qualify for the playoffs.
