Another one! The Miami Hurricanes added another name to the 2026 NFL Draft class as OT Markel Bell was selected with the 68th overall pick in the third round of the draft on Friday night by the Philadelphia Eagles. And Bell is a prospect who defies easy description.
At 6’9″ and 346 pounds with 36 3/8-inch arms and an 87-inch wingspan, he is the kind of physical outlier that offensive line coaches dream about developing – a player whose measurements alone put him in rarified company in this draft class or any other. He came to Miami as a developmental project from junior college (Holmes Community College) and grew into a legitimate Day 2 draft pick, one of the more striking development stories in Mario Cristobal’s tenure in Coral Gables. For context on the sheer scale of the man: his 36-plus-inch arm length ranks among the longest of any offensive lineman drafted in the past decade.
Multiple teams showed interest to visit with Bell before draft night, a testament to how seriously the league took his physical profile. He is raw, yes. He is a work in progress, certainly. But he is also a six-foot-nine, 346-pound human being with the wingspan of a small aircraft and a foundation Mario Cristobal’s staff built from the ground up. You can’t teach size.
Advertisement
The Eagles have a developed offensive line led by Lane Johnson, Tyler Steen, Landon Dickerson, Jordan Mailata, and Cam Jurgens so Bell will have a hard time competing for early work but should be a developmental project.
Oh, and I projected this pick exactly!
The right coaching staff will see a starting-caliber NFL tackle in three years. Congrats, Markel, and make Miami proud with the Eagles.