Eagles pick Lane Johnson to ring in Chip Kelly era

Eagles landed their man, Lane Johnson, with the No. 4 overall pick.

The Eagles had Lane Johnson targeted all along, they just had to wait to see if he was there.

He was and Chip Kelly pulled the trigger by selecting Johnson with the No. 4 overall pick in Thursday night’s NFL draft.

Johnson fell right into their laps, after Oakland traded the No. 3 pick to Miami, who chose Oregon defensive end/linebacker Dion Jordan. The Eagles didn’t waste any time giving Johnson’s name to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Johnson, a dominant left tackle out of Oklahoma, wasted no time in donning a green Eagles cap and celebrating with family and friends.

“I’m very happy right now, looking forward to protecting Michael Vick,” Johnson told NFL Network reporter Deion Sanders. “I’m looking forward to playing in Chip Kelly’s offense.”

Johnson is considered an athletic freak. He played quarterback in high school before switching to tight end in college. Johnson played right tackle as a junior, then jumped over to left tackle as a senior.

When asked if he would consider playing quarterback in Philadelphia, Johnson laughed and replied, “I better rest up my arm.”

Johnson will presumably start training camp as a backup to starting left tackle Jason Peter on the depth chart. Peters is coming off two Achilles tendons surgeries last offseason.

No matter what Kelly’s plan is, the 23-year-old believes he is ready for primetime. He ran a similar scheme at Oklahoma.

“I just think coming from a spread scheme, up tempo, [Kelly] ran close to a 100 plays per game [at Oregon],” Johnson told reporters last week. “That’s exactly what we did at Oklahoma.”