August 22, 2026
Gregory Fisher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Willie Lampkin, Drew Kendall, and Jake Majors blow open a crater for Will Shipley to run through.
The ball was snapped at the New England 5, but by the time the whistle blew, Patriots defensive tackle Isaiah Iton was left spinning backwards well into his own end zone.
Eagles running back Will Shipley took the ball on the handoff and powered his way over the goal line to put the Birds on the board first in their preseason exhibition against the Pats up in Foxboro on Saturday night. Making that play – and that whole drive – work, though, was a collective bulldozer of an offensive line that Shipley had ahead of him.
Markel Bell, probably the biggest guy on the field at a hulking 6-9 and 346 pounds, had the edge on the right side completely locked down.
Jake Majors, at a smaller (but only by comparison) 6-3, 315, threw up a wall on his assignment to Bell's left.
And then at the center of the chaos, Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin crashed forward, sweeping Iton as an incoming tackler away like he was caught in a tidal wave, and clearing a path for Shipley to truck straight through as Fred Johnson, an Eagles veteran at this point, pushed away the rest of the traffic.
Kendall is 6-4 and 308 pounds, and looks like he's beginning to come into his own in Year 2. Lampkin, meanwhile, is listed at a generous 5-11 and 290 pounds. The waiver claim away from the Rams last August certainly isn't the biggest and strongest lineman out there in nearly every scenario, but boy, does he sure block like he is.
And on Saturday night, in what ended as a 24-21 Eagles loss, he was a headliner among a second-string O-line that looked like it was on a mission to bully any New England defender put in front of them.
.@willshipley2021 buries his way for the score! pic.twitter.com/iXvDrOk9y9
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 22, 2026
On the second snap of the Eagles' first drive, Shipley took off for an 18-yard run with a gap created from Lampkin, as the center, hooking to the right from underneath, Majors pushing up into the second layer as the right guard to take out a linebacker, and Bell keeping an angle inside as the right tackle, with his size advantage sealing off the edge and allowing Shipley to cut straight through a massive gap.
The drive ended quickly after with an Eagles punt, from still-unofficial backup quarterback Andy Dalton missing badly on consecutive late-down passing plays, but once the Birds got it back, Dalton settled down with sharper passes (all to Darius Cooper) that pushed them into the red zone and set the O-line up to push everyone around while Shipley hammered the football forward.
Look at Willie Lampkin and Markel Bell on this rep.
— Thomas R. Petersen (@thomasrp93) August 22, 2026
Awesome work.#Eagles pic.twitter.com/SBOR6xSuPL
And yeah, it was still second-stringers vs. second-stringers through the bulk of the first half, but for the sake of the immediate depth and then future of the Eagles' offensive line, which has been the pride of the organization going all the way back to the Andy Reid days, the effort the reserve linemen put together should be encouraging.
Because the reality is the Eagles might not have much longer with the current O-line core that has continually kept them in contention.
Lane Johnson said this season is likely it for him earlier in training camp, and as he was explaining his decision to the local press, he was sure to prop up Bell as his successor and "one of the best rookies I've been around." That's a major endorsement, but also a lot of pressure for a third-round draft pick who has suddenly been positioned as the expected future at right tackle for 2027 onward. But so far, he doesn't look shaken by it, and is showing that the parts are there.
Cam Jurgens is back as the starting center and Landon Dickerson as the leading left guard, but both have injury histories now that are going to leave their durability, from week-to-week and year-to-year, as a concern. So there is a considerable chance now that the Eagles are going to need backups who can dependably step in and handle snaps at those positions just in case.
And it seems like there's confidence now that Lampkin and Kendall can handle them, or that Eagles coaches had at least seen enough of what they can offer, as both were taken out after that second scoring drive.
Granted, after seeing them team up to send a guy backpedaling halfway into his own end zone, it was probably easy to feel good about what they got.
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Follow Nick on Bluesky: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
