The NFL combine, one workout that can either propel or plummet a player’s draft stock.
Some scoff at the idea of the combine because it only measures a small portion of a what a player can do in terms of their strength and speed.
Brett Smiley of Fox Sports decided to rank seven players who were stars at the combine and fulfilled that promise in the NFL.
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson is in Smiley's top-seven (he didn't assign them ranks) and labeled an “all-around beast.” Along with Johnson were J.J. Watt, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Vernon Davis.
Smiley looked at Johnson’s 2013 combine day and highlighted his broad jump, 40-yard dash, and vertical jump: "Among all offensive linemen appearing at the combine since 2006, Johnson has posted the second-best 40-yard dash time (4.72), the best broad jump (9 feet, 10 inches) and the seventh-best vertical jump (34 inches).”
Johnson a 6-foot-6, 318-pound right tackle was the Eagles' first-round (fourth overall selection) in the 2013 draft.
Since becoming an Eagle he has been a workhorse, starting 50 games in four seasons and making the 2014 All-Pro team.
Johnson last season was suspended 10 games for using a performance-enhancing substance known as a peptide. This was his second offense; his first was in 2014 when he was suspended for four games. If he is caught a third time, he will be suspended for two seasons.