Lane Johnson’s retirement brings the Miami Dolphins’ 2013 draft miss back into sharp focus.
For Dolphins fans, it’s hard not to look at the Philadelphia Eagles right tackle and wonder what might have been. Johnson spent the better part of 14 seasons in the NFL as one of the most dependable linemen in the league, and he was just one step away from spending that stretch in Miami.
The reminder goes straight back to the 2013 NFL Draft, a class that was seen as weak at the time and has largely lived down to that reputation. Miami moved up from No. 12 overall to No. 3 overall, and Johnson was still sitting there. A lot of ESPN’s draft coverage that night expected Jeff Ireland to take him.
Instead, the Dolphins went with Dion Jordan, a pick that never came close to working out and has lingered as a warning sign for future Miami executives. Johnson, on the other hand, became a steady force for an Eagles franchise that reached three Super Bowls and won two of them.
Johnson was already the third offensive tackle selected that night, behind Central Michigan’s Eric Fisher to Kansas City at No. 1 and Texas A&M’s Luke Joeckel to Jacksonville at No. 2. His work at Oklahoma had him positioned for No. 3, or maybe even higher, but Miami got caught up in Jordan’s upside.
What Johnson delivered in the NFL was the kind of durability and production teams dream about. Over 14 seasons, he made six Pro Bowls and earned five All-Pro selections, including two First Team honors. And those accolades weren’t empty numbers; they came while the Eagles were winning and regularly staying in the playoff hunt, then breaking through under Doug Pederson and continuing that success under Nick Sirianni.
The contrast with Miami’s 2013 roster makes the miss even starker. That Dolphins team was leaning on Tyson Clabo and what remained of Bryant McKinnie at tackle, and Johnson’s reliability on the right side might have changed the shape of that season. Maybe that would have been the difference between 8-8 and a Wild Card berth.
Jordan’s career became a far different story. He managed just three sacks over his first two seasons, was suspended, and eventually got pushed out of Miami after losing the trust of the coaching staff and front office. His NFL career ended with 13.5 sacks in six seasons, a sharp drop from the kind of impact player the Dolphins thought they were drafting.
There is a strange postscript, too: Jordan moved into coaching after his playing career and now leads Division III Eureka College. Johnson’s path points in the opposite direction. He looks like a player headed for Canton, while Miami is left revisiting one of the franchise’s biggest whiffs.
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