Why The Eagles Could Have Lane Johnson's Replacement Already On The Team

The Eagles waited until the third round to possibly find the heir to Lane Johnson, who announced that this will probably be his final season, despite seven OTs going in the first round.

Eagles rookie OT Markell Bell at minicamp. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles could have taken an offensive tackle in the first round. They knew Lane Johnson was nearing the end of his likely Hall of Fame career.

And now that the end has arrived for the 36-year-old Johnson, who announced on Saturday morning that this would probably be his final season, will the Eagles rue that decision?

Not if Markel Bell has anything to say about it.

It was in the third round that the Eagles took the gargantuan Bell out of the University of Miami with the 68th overall pick, which happened to be the pick they acquired two years earlier from the New York Jets when GM Howie Roseman sent disgruntled pass rusher Haason Reddick to New York.

Bell was primarily a left tackle during his college career, but has taken plenty of reps at right tackle in his first pro training camp.

“There are some growing pains,” said Bell earlier in the week, “but I’m getting better each and every day. I’m getting more confident, and it will help me in the long run.  I feel like it’s more mental thing. Especially me going left to right, it’s more of a mental game. So, we’re just talking through plays, talking through how do I feel during this play or this set, and just talking ball.”

If Bell, who was the fourth pick of the third round, two selections after his Miami teammate, quarterback Carson Beck, went to the Arizona Cardinals, figures it out, then the Eagles have Johnson’s successor, with a year of learning behind Johnson.

If he doesn’t, well, there was a chance to get an OT in the first round, where seven players at that position were selected. There was a drop-off in the second round, without any offensive tackles taken, but Bell was the first offensive tackle to go off the board in the third round.

He was followed later in the round by Florida’s Austin Barber, Missouri’s Keagen Trost, Iowa’s Gennings Dunker, and Northwestern’s Caleb Tiernan. There were 22 offensive tackles taken in the seven-round draft last April.

Lane Johnson Impressed By Rookie

Lane Johnson explains he is likely playing his final NFL season on Aug. 8, 2026. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

The Eagles fell in love with Bell’s traits, the least of which is a frame that nearly reaches 6-10 and carries nearly 350 pounds. His footwork for a man that large is impressive, and he has impressed the man he very well could be in line to succeed.

“He’s one of the best rookies I’ve been around as far as being in the playbook, no complaining,” said Johnson. “I haven’t heard him complain one time. He’s always asking questions. Just a really mature young man. He handles stuff off the field well.

“He’s always asking questions. You can tell he was coached up well at Miami. Yeah man, I see a guy with that size and that ability and that wingspan and that movement, he can have a lot of success in this business.”

The Eagles have had incredible success finding starting tackles, dating back to Tra Thomas, who wore the same No. 72 that Bell is wearing from the time he was drafted 11th overall in 1998 through 2009 for the Eagles, to trading for Jason Peters, to signing Jon Runyan as a free agent, to drafting Johnson fourth overall, and to taking a seventh-round gamble on Jordan Mailata.

The list extends even further to Jerry Sisemore and Stan Walters in the 1970s and college Hall of Famer Al Wistert in the 1940s.

Can Bell join the list? Time will tell. Mailata, though, is dong his part to make sure the answer is yes.

“He’s turning into the big brother that I needed, especially at this level,” said Bell about Mailata. “He's been there with me. He’s been patient with me. We’re just talking about everything – life in general, football.”