Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

The Unusual Suspects

Posted April 25th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

The Eagles draft like Kyle Schwarber hits. They are interested in home runs, not singles or doubles. They swing for the fences when they can and have a pretty good track record, like Schwarber. With that in mind, here are some additional thoughts on what the Eagles did on Day 2.

Check out this nugget from Howie Roseman’s press conference after Day 2.

There you have it. Unusual. That’s an interesting word. They could have gone with rare or unique, but unusual it is.

The Eagles are looking for players who can be special. Eli Stowers is a special athlete. Grant Calcaterra is a good athlete. There is a major difference. They are basically the same size. Stowers is faster, 4.51 compared to 4.62. The vertical jump really stands out. Stowers was at 45.5 inches, Calcaterra only 32.5 That shows explosiveness. Stowers has it, Calcaterra doesn’t. Stowers is unusual.

Everyone’s big knock on Stowers is his blocking. He stinks as of now. It is up to the Eagles coaches to work on that and get him to be better. He’ll never be a strong in-line blocker, but that’s not why the Eagles drafted him. They want someone who can be a difference-maker in the passing game.

I can’t think of many TEs who move like that. Again, this is an unusual guy.

Markell Bell has unusual size. He’ll enter the league and automatically be one of the biggest OTs. He is 6-9, 346 and has 36-inch arms. That is insane length. As Joel Buchsbaum, Pro Football Weekly’s legendary draft analyst, would say “It is a $20 cab ride just to get around the guy”.

The player you instantly compare Bell to is Jordan Mailata, who is also enormous. Mailata is a natural athlete who had to learn how to play football. Bell has played football his whole life. He was the starting LT for the team that almost won the national title. He didn’t give up a single sack over the course of his final season, 16 games. Bell is not a rare athlete. He has good feet and is an okay athlete for his size. Bell is light years beyond Mailata entering the league. That doesn’t mean he will develop into the same level of player.

The Eagles liked Bell a lot. Howie said they brought him to Philly and also visited with him in Miami. This is a player they targeted. The Eagles have high hopes. Bell only played LT in college, but has been working some at RT in his pre-draft training. OL guru Duke Manyweather is one of the guys working with him.

One of the benefits of taking the OT now is that Bell can spend 2026 adjusting to RT and life in the NFL. Bell is only 21 years old. His body is still developing. The Eagles training staff will work with him to get in top shape.

Bell isn’t just some big stiff. He can get out and block on the move.

That is brutal. And beautiful if you’re an Eagles fan.

Does that guy look too big or too stiff to you? We see massive OTs in each draft class. Most are awkward. They don’t have the feet to function in the NFL. They aren’t natural benders who can avoid being too upright. That’s not Bell. His size is unusual and his ability to play at his size is even more unusual.

You also have to love his attitude. He started at LT in the national championship on January 19th. He reported to the Senior Bowl a week later. He didn’t miss a practice and even played in the game. He wanted to show the NFL what he could do. This is a guy who wants to succeed.

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Jonathan Greenard isn’t unusual. He’s just really good. He does have one of the quickest get-off’s in the league. He only had 3 sacks last year, but still was one of the fastest players off the ball. That just shows you that sacks can be a high variance stat. The key is to regularly pressure the passer. You certainly want guys to finish, but affecting the QB on a regular basis is the key.

Howie mentioned that Greenard was a captain in Minnesota. That tells you he’s the kind of guy you want on your team. Minnesota’s GM said the only reason they let him go was their salary cap situation was getting too challenging. They needed to get cheaper and younger (like the Eagles offense).

Hopefully we’ll be seeing that in 2026.

Howie did mention that they were able to add Greenard and pay him without hurting their ability to re-sign their key young defensive stars. That is great news.

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