Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson, close friends, Super Bowl champs, anchors of the Eagles’ offensive line for the past decade, were both named Friday to the 2022 Associated Press All-Pro first team.
Jalen Hurts, James Bradberry, A.J. Brown and Haason Reddick were all named to the second team. This is the first All-Pro recognition for each of them.
This is the first time the Eagles have had at least six 1st- or 2nd-team All-Pros since 2002, when Brian Dawkins and Troy Vincent made the first team, and Bobby Taylor, David Akers, Tra Thomas, Jermane Mayberry and Hugh Douglas made second team.
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This is Kelce’s fifth 1st-team All-Pro selection – his first wasn’t until his seventh season – and Johnson’s second. They were both 1st-team All-Pros in the 2017 Super Bowl season as well.
According to Pro Football Focus, the 34-year-old Kelce hasn’t allowed a quarterback hit since Week 12 of the 2020 season against the Seahawks. He’s allowed one sack in the last two years. His 88.5 grade is the second-highest of his career behind a 94.1 in 2017.
Kelce continues to build on his Hall of Fame credentials as one of the most accomplished interior linemen in NFL history. He’s only the eighth center in history to be named 1st-team All-Pro five times. The seven others are already in the Hall of Fame. One played in the 1930s, one in the 1940s, one in the 1950s and three in the 1960s.
Kelce and Jack Christianson, a Hall of Fame safety with the Lions in the 1950s, are the only 6th-round picks in NFL history to make five All-Pro teams. The 34-year-old Kelce is also the Eagles’ oldest All-Pro since 35-year-old Chuck Bednarik in 1960.
NFL
The last offensive lineman drafted in the 6th round or later to make five All-Pro teams was Hall of Famer Jim Ringo, who finished his career with the Eagles in 1963.
Johnson earned All-Pro honors for the second time despite missing the last two games of the season with a core muscle injury. According to PFF, he hasn’t allowed a sack since Week 11 of 2020 against the Browns and hasn’t allowed a QB hit since Week 4 of 2021 against the Raiders.
Kelce, Johnson and Jason Peters are the only Eagles offensive linemen to earn multiple 1st-team All-Pro honors since 1970.
Hurts, 24, finished second among quarterbacks in All-Pro voting behind Patrick Mahomes after a remarkable breakthrough season. Hurts threw for 22 touchdowns this year and ran for 13, tying Randall Cunningham’s franchise record of 35 total touchdowns in a season. He went 14-1 in 15 starts, becoming the second-youngest QB in history to win 14 games. Dan Marino won 14 games in 1984. He’s the second 24-year-old Eagles QB in the last six years to earn 2nd-team All-Pro honors. Carson Wentz did in 2017.
Bradberry lost out on NFC Pro Bowl accolades to Darius Slay but got the nod on the All-Pro team. Bradberry finished the regular season with a 51.6 opposing quarterback passer rating, 2nd-best in the NFL behind Seahawks rookie Tariq Woolen and significantly lower than Slay’s 83.9 – although Slay generally matched up against an opponent’s top receiver. Opposing QBs had a 45.3 completion percentage against Bradberry, also 2nd-lowest in the league (behind Chidobe Awuzie of the Bengals, who played only eight games). He allowed 4.3 yards per target, lowest in the NFL. Bradberry also had three interceptions.
Brown, in his first year with the Eagles, caught 88 passes for a franchise-record 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns and made his second Pro Bowl in three years. He’s the first Eagles WR to earn 1st- or 2nd-team All-Pro honors since Terrell Owens was named to the first team in 2004.
Reddick, also in his first year with the Eagles, recorded a career-high 16 sacks, tied with Myles Garrett for second-most in the league behind Nick Bosa’s 18 ½. He’s the first Eagles edge rusher to earn All-Pro honors since Connor Barwin was a 2nd-teamer in 2014.
This is the 83rd consecutive year the AP has selected an NFL All-Pro team. Although the NFL doesn’t have an official All-Pro team, the AP All-Pro team is widely considered the quasi-official honor for the best players in the league regardless of conference.
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