Eagles draft: Ohio State’s Paris Johnson, Dawand Jones are alluring options to be Lane Johnson’s heir apparent

ATLANTA — The 13-3 Eagles don’t have many glaring needs on offense, but injuries are beginning to pile up as they prepare for they what they hope will be a deep postseason run.

One injured player in particular to monitor moving forward is right tackle Lane Johnson, who is dealing with a core muscle injury and has elected to delay surgery until the offseason.

Johnson, a second-team All-Pro selection in 2021 and now a four-time Pro Bowler, is still playing some of the best football of his career at 32. However, he says he ideally wants to play two more seasons, meaning the Eagles front office has to keep one eye toward the future.

» READ MORE: ‘The best tackle there is’: Eagles’ Lane Johnson earns a 4th Pro Bowl nod and sets the standard at the position

Offensive line has been a big point of emphasis in the current revamp of the roster, so don’t be surprised in this year’s draft if the Eagles dip their toes into a talented and diverse pool of offensive linemen.

Two options whom the Eagles could eye as a future replacement for Johnson are from Ohio State: left tackle Paris Johnson and right tackle Dawand Jones. During Saturday’s College Football Playoff semifinal against Georgia, they proved why they will be coveted come April. Johnson, who spent his sophomore season at right guard in 2021, made the transition to left tackle seamlessly this season, becoming one of the best draft-eligible tackle prospects in the class.

After giving up an early sack to Georgia’s freshman edge rusher Mykel Williams, the dependable left tackle locked in, showcasing his quickness to mitigate speed rushers and the hands to ward off power rushes, helping keep his quarterback C.J. Stroud clean in the pocket for the duration of the night.

Following the game, a 42-41 Georgia win, Johnson was candid yet insightful on his performance against a top-notch defensive line.

“I think early on with the sack, I need to glue my hips and drive and expand to allow C.J. to be able to stay where he’s at to be able to get the ball downfield,” the consensus first-team All-American said.

“And I think from there, I picked it up. I tried to wear my guy down in the run game, so I felt we had more conditioning than them then and were able to drive the ball down the field to mix it up.”

» READ MORE: Five NFL draft prospects Eagles fans should keep an eye on during bowl season

Listed at 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, Johnson not only has the size and athleticism to play multiple positions on the offensive line, but also the core strength to stand his ground against players who may be bigger and stronger than him. Another potential Eagles target in Saturday’s game, Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, is widely regarded as a top-three player in the draft. Johnson was rarely matched up with Carter, but it allowed the first-team All-Big Ten tackle to test his skill set against an elite player.

“There’s a lot of great college players out there, but there’s NFL players in college. I’d like to say that I feel like I’m one of them, but it’s great to be able to play against another NFL guy [in Carter],” Johnson said.

“I’d like to say I won [their battles] for the most part. At the end of the day, he is a good player and I felt like we played a good game.”

Johnson is a projected top-15 pick based on his play alone, and could return to school as a junior, but his positional versatility makes him a viable option for the Eagles.

Meanwhile, right tackle Jones has eye-popping measurables, standing at 6-8, 370, with a whopping 89⅛-inch wingspan, according to Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy. An imposing presence in the trenches, Jones vastly improved this season.

The foundations were in place to build off Jones’ junior season tape, in which he started 13 games, but Nagy says his improvement during his senior season impressed his Senior Bowl staff.

“I feel like he’s cleaned up a lot of his footwork,” Nagy said. “He’s playing with better technique, and he’s just so darn big.

“Scouts are going to look for things you can’t coach, and you know, 6-foot-8½ with a 7-foot-5 wingspan are things you can’t coach. He’s got that ‘They don’t grow on trees’ quality with the size.”

Those improvements in the offseason were on full display against Georgia. Jones, who didn’t give up a sack, made some impressive plays while matched against Carter, sending him flying backward in the run game. He also caught Carter on a snatch-trap maneuver, in which an offensive lineman catches a defender’s momentum moving forward, quickly pulls him down in a swift motion, and finishes by landing on top of the player.

Historically, right tackles in college don’t come off the board in the first round, and Nagy expects Jones to be a second-day option come April. Jones is slated to take part in Senior Bowl practices later this month in Mobile, Ala.

Nagy adds that he has the skill set of an immediate starter, which could ultimately be a reason the Eagles pass up drafting the second-team All-Big Ten right tackle with Lane Johnson still around for the next few seasons.

» READ MORE: Draft preview: Whether the Eagles trade or pick, the 2023 class’ strengths suit them well

Jones even drew comparisons to Jonathan Ogden, the 6-9, 345-pound Hall of Fame left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, from one of the Senior Bowl scouts on Nagy’s staff.

“The first scout that saw him was Brad Jackson, who played for the early-2000s Ravens teams and was a teammate of Ogden, and when he saw him down in the field, he texted me that this kid is the biggest guy he’s seen on a football field since Jonathan Ogden,” Nagy added.

Right tackle isn’t an immediate need for the Eagles, but they’ll have a chance to draft one for the future. Johnson and Jones aren’t perfect prospects, but they would be potential upgrades over the players currently behind Lane Johnson on the depth chart.