Eagles newcomers ’26: How soon might Markel Bell contribute along the offensive line?
Also, Joshua Weru gives the Eagles another hopeful from the International Player Pathway program.
With Eagles training camp drawing nearer, The Inquirer is taking a closer look at the more than three dozen new faces who are expected to report along with the rest of the team on July 28.
Player: Markel Bell
Position: OT
Age: 22 (when camp starts)
Previous experience: Bell’s lone season as a full-time starter was this past one, when the 6-foot-9, 346-pound offensive tackle helped Miami reach the national title game. Bell is sort of a late bloomer. He started playing football in seventh grade. In part because he grew up in a small town in Mississippi, he was a zero-star high school recruit who went to junior college before blossoming into one of the most sought-after offensive line prospects two years later.
Bell was a rotational tackle in 2024 before earning the left tackle gig at Miami last year. He dominated. He did not surrender a sack while playing more than 1,000 snaps. He also was named second-team Academic All-America last season.
Whether a 2026 draft choice, a veteran addition, or a rookie free-agent hopeful, we’re telling you more about each player’s potential role this season. We’re rolling out two players per day in a mostly unscientific order that balances offense and defense, bigger names with mysteries, and locks with longer shots to be chosen for the 53-man roster.
Path to a roster spot: Bell’s spot on the 53 is not in doubt. Surprisingly, it was Bell taking first-team reps during OTAs (with Lane Johnson absent) and not Fred Johnson, the swing tackle the Eagles brought back for another season. Sure, OTA reps are relatively meaningless, but it’s a sign the Eagles think Bell possibly could step in right away to that swing tackle role. We’ll see where things stand come training camp, but given recent injuries over the last few years to Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, Bell could see meaningful snaps as soon as 2026.
Fun fact: Bell grew from 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-4 during a summer growth spurt between eighth and ninth grades, according to The Athletic.
Quotable: “Typically when you get guys out of high school and they come in the door, they’re not as driven or as focused,” Les George, Bell’s offensive line coach at Holmes Community College, told The Inquirer in April. “They kind of have an idea of what they want to accomplish just based off of what they see on social media or see other people accomplish and they’ll kind of be all-in with it, but Markel was different than any other guy I’ve coached. Extremely focused, very humble. He was a guy that didn’t want to settle for mediocrity.
“I don’t know how to explain it. He’ll make you a better coach.”
Player: Joshua Weru
Position: Edge rusher
Age: 22
Previous experience: Football experience? None. Rugby experience? Plenty. Jordan Mailata proved that path is possible. The Eagles signed Weru after he went undrafted. He is one of two players on the training camp roster who come with International Pathway Player designations, the other being seventh-round pick Uar Bernard.
Weru, a native of Kenya, attended Arizona State University last year. He showed off his athleticism at the International Player Pathway program pro day, where he ran a 4.45 40-yard dash (with 1.59 10-yard split) and had a 41.5-inch vertical and 11-2 broad jump. The Eagles are hoping those traits translate into an edge rusher capable of playing NFL snaps.
Path to a roster spot: Nothing is impossible, but Weru’s chances of making the 53-man are long. The Eagles are a bit crowded on the edge, with four shoo-ins and a few players with real football experience pushing for the bottom of the depth chart. Weru, however, will have a chance to make a good first impression on the Eagles and show them why he’s worth carrying on the practice squad while they continue to mold him into a football player.
NFL teams can carry 16 players on the practice squad and have a 17th spot available for players with IPP designations. Bernard seems more likely than Weru to make the 53-man roster, but there’s a world where both of them end up on the practice squad after passing through waivers. One would count toward the normal 16-player practice squad roster, and the other would be the IPP designation.
Fun fact: Weru joined a professional rugby club at age 14 and has represented the Kenyan national team on the international stage.
Quotable: “I’d say my playing style is fast and aggressive,” Weru told a Kenyan radio station. “One of the reasons I enjoy this game is that it’s 100% all the time. I was used to rugby, where the game was longer and it would be too tiring to go 100% every single phase. But in football, especially in the few times we’ve gone full contact, it’s nothing like that.
“The way I think about it is that you’re like a sprinter and a boxer at the same time, you’re going full speed and trying to hit people as hard as possible. I enjoy that, and that’s how I’d describe my playing style: fast and aggressive.”
