There’s almost a foot between Markel Bell and Willie Lampkin. But they’ve become ‘brothers’ as O-Line careers take off.
The 5-foot-11 Lampkin and 6-9 Bell could both be in the starting huddle Sunday in London.
When Willie Lampkin stands next to Markel Bell, it’s hard to notice anything but the gap between them. Bell, the tallest player in franchise history, is listed at 6-foot-9, 346 pounds.
Lampkin, the league’s shortest offensive lineman, is pint-sized in comparison, at 5-11, 290. The near-foot of separation has led to some quips from both fans and media.
On Aug. 10, for example, during training camp, a reporter posted a video of Lampkin and Bell during a team drill. Someone took a screenshot of them walking off the field. The image went viral on Twitter, evoking more than a few Manute Bol-Muggsy Bogues comparisons.
The right tackle and the left guard found it funny. But in a way, their greatest difference — their height — is rooted in a fundamental similarity.
Lampkin will never know what it’s like to tower above his teammates, just as Bell will never know what it’s like to peer up at them. But both linemen know what it’s like to be underestimated.
And they both use that to motivate themselves — and each other.
“We’re kind of cut from the same cloth,” Bell said. “We’ve both been doubted our whole lives. And now it’s just time to make people pay for it.
“I went to JUCO. He went undrafted. Of course, with his stature, people look at him and say, ‘Hey, he’s too small.’ And people look at me and say, ‘Hey, he’s too big.’”
For Bell, who was selected in the third round of the 2026 draft, the knock was his ability to get low, or play alongside shorter players. He said that being from small-town Mississippi didn’t help, either.
The future Eagle was a zero-star recruit who received only low-level Division I interest coming out of high school. He enrolled at Holmes Community College, in the hopes of attracting more attention, before transferring to Miami in January of 2024.
For Lampkin, it was that he couldn’t compete with those larger than him. Like Bell, he started his college football career in relative obscurity, leveraging three strong seasons at Coastal Carolina to earn a spot at the University of North Carolina.
In the leadup to Lampkin’s pro day in 2025, some NFL scouts and coaches said he’d be better suited to a backfield role, even though he’d spent his college career at guard and center. His size, relative to his position, was a factor in him going undrafted before the Rams signed him in April of 2025.
The Eagles claimed Lampkin in August of last year, and put him on injured reserve two days later.
When the two players first met, over the summer, they realized they shared a resilient spirit. Before long, they were inseparable; “always together” at the practice facility and at the stadium, in Lampkin’s telling.
“He’s like my brother, man,” the guard said of Bell. “He’s like a humble beast.”
Like any brothers would, they began to engage in some good-natured ribbing, mostly about the ACC rivalry between UNC and Miami. They never faced each other, but Lampkin will never let Bell forget about the Tar Heels’ 41-31 win over the Hurricanes in October of 2023.
“I always tell him that we beat them,” Lampkin said. “I got my dub over Miami.”
He also gave Bell a nickname (which appears to have been borrowed from reality TV personality Alexis Radcliff).
“I call him ‘Big ‘Kel not the Little One,’” Lampkin said. “He hates when I say that. I’ve heard it online and I always just say it to him. I don’t even know, I just heard it. I always be like, ‘Big ‘Kel not the Little One.’”
Added Bell: “He just be trollin’, he just be trollin’. I laugh and I tell him to get out of my face.”
Bell said that as backups, they’d talk about what it would be like when their opportunities finally came. In that moment, it felt distant.
Lane Johnson was entrenched at right tackle. Jurgens was at center, and Landon Dickerson at left guard. But the linemen tried to keep each other motivated.
“We were like, ‘Bro, our time will come,’” Bell said. “‘And when it does come, we’re going to get on the field, and we’re going to stay on the field.’”
It came more quickly than anyone anticipated. Dickerson was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 14. Johnson retired earlier this week. Jurgens was traded on Wednesday, and his replacement, Drew Kendall, hadn’t practiced this week, as of Thursday, with a knee injury.
To say this is a big opportunity for the two linemen would be an understatement. Bell has started one NFL game (abruptly, after Johnson bowed out less than two hours before kickoff due to a personal matter). Lampkin has never started in his pro career.
On Sunday against the Jaguars in London, they’ll likely join the huddle together, to prepare for the Eagles’ first offensive play of the game. Their vantage points will be vastly different.
But inside, their perspective will be the same.
“We’ve been doubted our whole lives,” Bell said. “The time is now. So just go out there and seize it.”
Different year, different offensive coordinator, yet still, it feels like Déjà vu all over again. The Eagles had little margin for error Sunday vs. the Rams because of injuries. They played hard despite being shorthanded, but in the end, couldn’t put the Rams away, mainly because of poor execution on offense. Why hasn’t Sean Mannion's scheme clicked? How culpable are head coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts in the offensive rut the Eagles find themselves in? The Inquirer's Jeff McLane and David Murphy analyze the fallout from the 24-20 loss to L.A. Listen here.
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