{"id":884812,"date":"2026-05-07T11:18:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/884812\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:18:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:18:18","slug":"eagles-rookie-offensive-tackle-markel-bell-draws-mailata-comparisons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/884812\/","title":{"rendered":"Eagles rookie offensive tackle Markel Bell draws Mailata comparisons"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> may have found another massive and physical presence for their offensive line, and it didn’t take long for rookie tackle Markel Bell to stand out during minicamp. According to Zach Berman of The Athletic<\/a>, Bell’s size was impossible to miss the moment offensive line drills began. Measuring over 6-foot-9, Bell is even taller than Jordan Mailata<\/a>, one of the largest players in the NFL. At one point during drills, Bell lined up next to 6-foot-8 guard Hollin Pierce<\/a>\u2014and still managed to look massive.<\/p>\n

Listed at 346 pounds, Bell carries his weight with impressive balance and coordination, drawing immediate comparisons to Mailata’s rare build. Bell even joked that he might still be growing, a frightening thought for opposing defenders. The comparisons go beyond physical traits. Bell said both Mailata and Lane Johnson<\/a> have already reached out, offering insight as he begins his NFL journey. Having watched both players during his time at Miami<\/a>, Bell pointed to Mailata’s movement and power as traits he admires most.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a big guy, he\u2019s his own player, he\u2019s a big freak,\u201d Bell said. \u201cOne thing I admire about him is the way he moves, the way he anchors on power, plays his own game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Mailata, who was a developmental project when he entered the league, Bell arrives with a strong foundation. He did not allow a sack during his final college season at Miami and has years of experience at the position after transitioning fully from basketball early in his high school career.<\/p>\n

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The Eagles clearly saw the upside. After bringing Bell in for a predraft visit and labeling him a \u201cpassion player,\u201d Philadelphia stayed put at No. 68 overall to secure him in the third round. Players with Bell’s combination of size, length, and coordination are rare, and the organization believes he can develop into a key contributor.<\/p>\n

For now, Bell will have the benefit of learning behind two of the league’s best tackles in Mailata and Johnson. But if early impressions are any indication, the Eagles may once again have struck gold in building the future of their offensive line.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Markel Bell turns heads with size at Eagles rookie camp<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Philadelphia Eagles may have found another massive and physical presence for their offensive line, and it didn’t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2068],"tags":[25,7,12984,13945,5545,102859,216,6,1482,115438,242,109,2476,44001],"class_list":["post-884812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia-eagles","tag-eagles","tag-football","tag-hollin-pierce","tag-jordan-mailata","tag-lane-johnson","tag-markel-bell","tag-miami","tag-nfl","tag-offensive-line","tag-offensive-line-drills","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-philadelphiaeagles","tag-physical-presence"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116533022111995511","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}