Background

Markel Bell grew up in Cleveland, Mississippi, and attended Cleveland Central High School. He spent his first two collegiate seasons at Holmes Community College in Mississippi, earning NJCAA All-Region honors after a dominant 2023 campaign. A four-star junior college prospect ranked No. 4 overall and No. 1 among offensive linemen by 247Sports, he chose Miami over Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. When Jalen Rivers dealt with injuries, he stepped in and appeared in 12 games in 2024 with five starts at left tackle, as the Hurricanes' offense finished No. 1 nationally in points and yards per game. He became the full-time starter at left tackle in 2025 and took a massive leap: 1,034 offensive snaps, zero sacks allowed, and one QB hit as Miami reached the CFP National Championship game. He took part in the Senior Bowl and declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Physical Attributes

Markel Bell is enormous. At the combine he stood 6'8.6" and weighed 346 lbs. Not only that, but he had an 87 1/8" wingspan and 36 3/8" arm length. All of those measurements are in the 97th percentile or above for OTs in the draft according to MockDraftables. Weirdly, on the opposite end of the scale in the 2nd percentile was his hand size, 9". For his size, he has great short-area burst and decent lateral agility. His balance is poor, and it probably comes from his having longer, skinnier legs and carrying most of his weight above the waist. As you would imagine for someone this big, he is quite strong. Moves well in space, and I gave him an 8.58 score for his on-field drills at the combine.

Data and Tape Analysis

If you are unfamiliar with my OL radar charts, you can find more information here

Markel Bell is a very interesting player. He has barely played any football at a top level. I am sure Miami and their strength and conditioning got Bell into good shape, but he has taken just over 1,500 offensive snaps in his career at a P4 level or above. That being said, Bell is raw, but what does he have right now other than his insane size?

Not a ton, honestly. Most of what makes Bell interesting was already said in the physical section of this write-up. Quick, strong, moves fluidly, is huge, you get the point. His actual play on the field builds on that basis, and he doesn't add much technique to impress.

When looking to get in his pass-pro set, his feet move weirdly, and he can stay up on his toes too much. He has a weak back foot that defenders can go at because of his poor balance. In the run and pass game, he has a hard time IDing who to block and how to best get to them. He lands his hands like Mack Trucks, but placing those hands is inconsistent.

All of that barely matters because he is just so impossibly big; it is hard to get around him, and if he is on a defender, he can swallow them whole.

Grade and Outlook

Bell showed enough on tape to entice, especially given the fact of how little experience he has at top-level football. He is still too raw to contribute right away, but as they say, you can't teach size, and this guy has it in abundance. Totally worth taking a chance on seeing if you can be the team to coach him to make it big.

Grade: 4.6 (Late 3rd Rounder / Early 4th Rounder)