In the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, addressing a top-three need at the position but surprising many who expected Pittsburgh to prioritize wide receiver.
In announcing the pick, General Manager Omar Khan confirmed that he spoke with Steelers legend and current Arizona State assistant coach Hines Ward, who said, “He was so excited, so fired up for Max and for us, and says he’s a steal.”
Steelers 2026 first round pick Max Iheanachor blocks BYU’s Isaiah Bagnah. Photo Credit: Ross D. Franklin, AP, via PennLive.com
This is how Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy explained the team’s interest in Iheanachor:
…when you watch linemen play, you want to see them strike and stick, and with that the balance and the footwork. His ability to stay alive on second and third reaction when he does engage, I think it’s all over the video.
Max Iheanachor was born in Nigeria and emigrated to the United States at age 13. He has a soccer background, which he credits for his strong footwork. Steel City Insider’s Jim Wexell described him as “a sponge in learning the game,” and Iheanachor himself said, “Man, I’m ready to learn. Whatever it is, I’m willing to do for the team, help this team win.”
The Steelers plan to start Iheanachor at right tackle. However, both Khan and McCarthy stressed the importance of position flexibility.
- Last season the Steelers started Broderick Jones, Dylan Cook and Troy Fautanu.
However, Jones is returning from injury and his status is uncertain for the coming year, while Dylan Cook has been a career practice squad player, although he performed well last season in relief.
The 2026 Steelers Draft Needs Matrix rated tackle as the team’s third most urgent need, but the franchise clearly hoped to add a wide receiver early.
The Steelers were on the phone with USC’s Makai Lemon at the 20th pick, but the Philadelphia Eagles jumped ahead of them in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys.
“It’s just the draft,” Omar Khan explained, and in that spirit, the Steelers stuck to their board.
This is the latest article in our Steelers 2026 Draft series.
Max Iheanachor Video Highlights
Max Iheanachor played his entire college career at Arizona State, a bit of a rarity in this age of the transfer portal, and appeared in 32 games over the last three years, including 14 in 2025 and 12 in 2026.
Here is a look at his body of work:
Ineanachor stands at 6’6” and weighs in at 3.21 pounds, but moves nimbly for a man his size. He ran a 4.93 in the 40. For comparisons sake, Broderick Jones ran a 4.97 in the 40 and Troy Fautanu ran a 5.01.
Those may not sound like big differences, and they are not big differences, but a little extra speed make all the difference for a tackle who has to pivot to pick up an unexpected blitzer heading Aaron Rodgers’ way.
Steelers First Round Pick of Max Iheanachor Draws Mixed Reviews – at Best…
The Steelers’ decision to draft Max Iheanachor drew mixed reactions, with some analysts praising his upside and fit in the trenches while others questioned passing on wide receiver.
The move was a surprise as Pittsburgh appeared primed to draft a play-making wide receiver and walked away with their third first round offensive tackle in four drafts of the Khan-Wedil era.
- The move has drawn mixed reviews.
Going into the draft Roy Countryman proprietor of Big Country Scouting and a writer for Steel City Insider had Max Iheanachor on his second round value board.
Steel City Insider’s Matt C. Steel had Max Iheanachor rated as 11th on his draft preference order for the Steelers, projecting him to go between 21 and 15 pick. Steel observed, “Highest ceiling, raw but productive. Could he play guard for a year?”
On X, former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex declared, “Good Solid Pick. Foundational. With what we are hearing about Broderick, it makes the most sense. Not sexy. But important.”
- Others are less charitable — to say the least.
Alan Saunders of SteelersNow condemned the Steelers of “Failing Three Times with the same first round pick.”
Long time Steelers blogger Neal Coolong described the pick as “Unserious” and explained on X, “Prepare for Terrell Edmunds.” – me on a group thread one second after Lemon went to the Eagles at 20.” Terrell Edmunds was the Steelers first round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and at the time was an unexpected grab who proved to the NFL equivalent of an optical illusion.
Welcome to Steelers Nation Max Iheanachor
As the antithesis of a draftnic, I won’t pretend to offer any instant assessment of how good or bad Max Iheanachor’s NFL future will be.
He could be a future Hall of Famer, and with injury questions about Jones and Cook’s long-term viability still unproven, this pick could still be more relevant to the Steelers immediate roster needs than most people think right now.
But that doesn’t alter the reality that the Steelers have continued to kick the can at wide receiver down the road for another round at least.
- With that said, building in the trenches is seldom a bad thing in the NFL.
Joe Gibbs won 3 Super Bowls in the 80’s with three separate quarterbacks by building his offense on the foundation of a strong offensive line. Bill Parcells did something similar with the Giants and won two Super Bowls. And, for all the fanfare (rightly) generated by “The Triplets,” Jimmy Johnson did the same thing in the same division.,
- Yes, the game has changed, but the philosophy remains sound.
Welcome to Steelers Nation Max Iheanachor.
