Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Markel Bell is 6-foot-9 and 346 pounds, but he \u201cmay still be growing,\u201d he said late Friday night after the Eagles selected the Miami offensive tackle with the 68th overall pick in the NFL draft.<\/p>\n
It would make sense. His ascension has been rapid. Bell was an off-the-radar prospect out of Cleveland Central High School in Cleveland, Miss. He was big, but raw. He went to Holmes Community College in central Mississippi and blossomed into the top junior college offensive tackle prospect in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u00bb READ MORE: Eagles select Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers in second round of 2026 NFL draft<\/a><\/p>\n He entered the 2025 season, his second at Miami, as a first-year full-time starter. He left college after losing the national title game as a still-developing prospect. <\/p>\n Howie Roseman<\/a> called him a \u201cpassion player\u201d for the Eagles during the draft process. The Eagles entered the draft cycle in need of an eventual successor for Lane Johnson<\/a>, or at least a plan for one. Roseman was enamored with Bell. He wondered what would happen if he went back to Miami for another season after not allowing a sack in 2025. Chances are, Roseman was implying, the 21-year-old Bell would have morphed into a potential first-round prospect.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a guy that\u2019s hard to find,\u201d Roseman said Friday night. \u201cWhen you watch him in pass [protection] and you watch his ability, it\u2019s hard to run through him, it\u2019s hard to run around him, he\u2019s got good feet for a big guy. You can see that. He\u2019s a unique guy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Eagles hosted Bell for a pre-draft visit. Bell said he \u201csaw himself in Philly\u201d and \u201cenvisioned\u201d himself as an Eagle during his visit. <\/p>\n \u201cI overwhelm defenders,\u201d he said, \u201cand I think that\u2019s what got me drafted here.\u201d<\/p>\n Bell played left tackle at Miami but has been cross-training at both spots. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be good. I\u2019m a plug-and-play guy,\u201d Bell said. \u201cI can play anywhere. You can put me at center if you want to.\u201d<\/p>\n The Athletic\u2019s Dane Brugler wrote that<\/a> \u201cBell is high cut and faces some disadvantages because of how he is built, but he compensates with his length and ascending awareness, which suggests he has NFL starts in his future. His performance in 2025 forced NFL scouts to reevaluate both his ceiling and floor.\u201d<\/p>\n The Eagles have time to evaluate the floor and ceiling without needing Bell to get on the field right away.<\/p>\n The Eagles, who also brought back swing tackle Fred Johnson, have been due to have a plan ready for life without Lane Johnson. The future Hall of Fame right tackle turns 36 in two weeks and missed the second half of last season after suffering a foot injury. He then pondered retirement in the offseason before opting to return for a 14th NFL season.<\/p>\n Bell\u2019s selection marks the first time the Eagles used a pick in the first three rounds on an offensive tackle since taking Andre Dillard in the first round in 2019. That pick did not pan out, but the Eagles had a 2018 seventh-round pick, Jordan Mailata<\/a>, who developed into the long-term solution at left tackle. The Eagles have had remarkable consistency bookending their offensive line in recent seasons.<\/p>\n But a position group that used to be plug-and-play has come under the microscope over the last year due to multiple key injuries.<\/p>\n