Welcome to the Steelers Max Iheanachor

Perfect move to stay in mediocre status for this season

 

Agreed. When I first started following the draft (I'm not doing the math...but it was some time ago before I needed ibuprofen to start the day); guys used to talk about who would end up as the best pro player. There was less concern about whether or not a guy needed to improve technique or develop some more. It was kind of assumed that all these guys did. Heck, it used to be that OL and DL from even big time college programs were assumed to be not strong enough to handle regular NFL duty right away.

Now, everyone is talking like this is fantasy football. Guys have to impact right away. I understand that the economic realities of the league have driven a great deal of that. But that isn't a universal. The Steelers are not in a cap crunch. They don't need an infusion of cheap talent. They need difference makers or they will be stuck in the middle forever.

I do not know a bunch about this pick or many of the other draft prospects. This dude may flame out of the league even before his rookie contract is over. Who really knows. What I do know is that in all my years of watching the Steelers draft players, usually the ones that fans pan the most end up being the best picks.

Here is one places take on big Max: "At the snap of the ball, Max will transport the player in front of him like an undertaker transports the deceased to the grave site."

 

I guess I don't get this pick. He has only played football for like 4 years. He's a development project. Yet we took him with our number one pick. I don't believe he sees the field much first year at all. So maybe I'm wrong. Good chance of that but I just don't think he was worth this high of a pick.

 

I agree with most of this, but Mauigoa went 10th overall. They weren't trading up that high to get their tackle.

 

We've been complaining for years about the Steelers' coaching hires and player development, especially at OL since Munchak left. When you can't coach up a prospect then it makes no sense to draft a project. It's time to see what the new staff can do. This kid is a lump of clay. If he can fulfill his potential then he might be the most impactful OT in the draft. If not then......well, we know what that means *cough* Broderick Jones *cough*

 

Yeah. He doesn't always get it right....but worth the time to read his thoughts.

 

Max was 63rd because he was not considered very "strong". More an experienced technician than a mauler. Middling ceiling but high floor type. In other words he was kinda the polar opposite from this kid.

To my being "specific" that is what I tend to be. Words have meaning brother and as a 62 year old watching this team for my whole life, when we have drafted "project type" tackles high they tend to be fails. With that history, cannot help when I see a "raw, inexperienced, tackle with all the tools" that few if any saw getting drafted this high, only because the guy we really wanted got stolen from. us, please understand why I tend to cringe.

All that said I sincerely hope I am wrong and that this kid it the first such tackle to live up to his huge upside potential.

 

This is starting to remind me of the Edmunds pick a few years back.

 

You are not alone brother!

 

Art was pleased. Goal accomplished.

 

I look at this pick and I ask if we're sure Colbert and Tomlin are gone...

 

I agree 100%. One of the most common things we hear every year at the draft is fans saying that your number one pick has to be a starter day one. Back in your pre-math days, Steve McNair was drafted third overall and sat for two seasons behind Chris Chandler.

I'm more interested in finding the ten year starter then the year one starter. Hopefully they are one and the same, but if I can only choose one, I'll take the guy I think will be starting for the next ten years.

 

Exactly.

Assume both Lemon and Max reach their most optimistic comps. Who is more valuable Deebo Samuel or a All-Pro LT? I gotta figure the tackle.

 

Wouldn't this type of situation be more about coaching than anything else? Not a high round pick, but think about Villanueva. He wasn't even an OL, nevermind 31 starts in the Big 12. However, the Steelers had Munch as OL coach and the kid developed into an above average and productive LT. On the other hand, with a high-upside project, trade up to 14, SEC LT, the Steelers and Pat Meyer were unable to develop Jones into anything close to his potential. We now have a new project for Campen and Evans. I have no idea if these guys can coach, but I'll stay in wait and see mode instead of assuming he's being coached by Meyer/Klemm/Sarrett.

 

Iheanachor isn't quite as much of a reach, but it is similar. They reached for physical traits and hoped the guy would develop and it burned them. The same could easily happen this time, too.

I'm getting Chuks Okorafor vibes here, which is also not good. Like Okorafor, Iheanachor is a right tackle with a left tackle's profile. He isn't a mauler. His gifts make him potentially a strong pass blocker, but he has work to do to get there.

 

Initially didnt' like it simply because of the OT run and us taking tier 2 or tier 3 at pick 21 when some seriously good prospects remained (BPA).
After some time, perfectly find with the pick. He's not really a project like some are saying. Sounds like hand usage/placement is the one thing that really needs work and that can be taught fast in some one-on-one, maybe bring in a past OT stud/guru. Better yet, have Watt and Highsmith (if around) take him aside and work with him for an hour a couple of times a week in July/August.

As for the quote above, those are also the same pundits/experts that try to say NOTHING bad about any draftee. We could have drafted #14 OT predicted to be an early day 3 pick and probably would have heard something similar from several of them. "Had him at 121 on my board, but there is some sneaky upside to him". I think we heard similar about that crappy DB we took like 10 years ago, the huge reach that no one had anywhere near first round and turns out he was day 3 material, 4th/5th DB and special teams only type...Artie burns I think it was.

 

I heard an interesting point this morning. How do you find an all-pro tackle? Of the free-agent tackles signed this off-season, there are none. They don't make it to market. At least with receivers they become available - you'll have to overpay and put up with headaches, but they become available. If you want an all-pro tackle, you have to develop him yourself because once you get him, nobody lets him leave.

 

Yeah, I said last night at least Meyer is gone.

 

Yup. If you want to get a tackle in FA, you have to pay through the nose for Dan Moore.

One way or another, Steelers are going to be playing a young QB the next handful of seasons. What is "better" for supporting that QB - a slot WR or a OT?

I got no idea if this kid will hit his ceiling. No one does. But if he does hit his ceiling and is a 10+ year blindside protector....no one talks about Lemon in Pittsburgh ever again.

 

# Player Pos Team Weight Height 40YD AVG POS RANK AVG OVR RANK Rating Summary
1

Francis
Mauigoa
OT

329lbs 6-6 5.13 1 10
89.5
Mauigoa is a tone-setter who brings a physical mentality that offensive line coaches dream about installing in their room. His anchor and...
2

Spencer
Fano
OT

311lbs 6-6 4.91 2 13.5
88.6
Fano walked into Indianapolis and did exactly what he needed to do: he reminded everyone that this is one of the most gifted athletes to...
3

Kadyn
Proctor
OT

352lbs 6-7 5.21 6 28.5
88.2
Proctor's combination of size and movement is uncommon. A 352-pound tackle who posts a 32.5-inch vertical and runs in the low 5.2s is not...
4

Monroe
Freeling
OT

315lbs 6-7 4.93 5 28.3
87.0
The scheme conversation around Freeling starts and ends with zone blocking. His movement skills are the selling point, and the right...
5

Caleb
Lomu
OT

313lbs 6-6 4.99 4 25.4
86.4
Lomu is one of the more fascinating offensive tackle prospects in this class because the gap between his current floor and his...
6

Blake
Miller
OT

317lbs 6-7 5.04 7 40
85.4
Miller's development arc at Clemson tells you what kind of player he is. His pass protection sharpened every single year, and by his final...
7

Max
Iheanachor
OT

321lbs 6-6 4.91 10 43.6
85.4
Watch any Arizona State game and you'll see it within the first five plays: Iheanachor moves like no 325-pound tackle should be allowed to...


Scouting Report: Summary
Watch any Arizona State game and you'll see it within the first five plays: Iheanachor moves like no 325-pound tackle should be allowed to move. The feet are light, the hips are loose, and there is a natural athleticism baked into everything he does that you simply cannot teach. His pass protection numbers from 2025 tell you he's already figured out enough to survive at a high level, and the Senior Bowl week confirmed that this wasn't just a product of Big 12 competition. He held his own against legitimate NFL-caliber rushers in Mobile, and the buzz around him afterwards was well-earned. This is a player whose ceiling is genuinely scary in the best possible way.

Here's the deal, though. The run blocking is a tier below the pass protection right now, and the technique still has stretches where it looks like a guy who's only been playing football for five years. Because that's exactly what he is. The hand placement wanders, the recognition against complex fronts wavers, and there will be possessions where he looks lost before snapping back into dominance on the very next series. That inconsistency is the cost of betting on upside over polish, and whichever team invests in him needs to understand that the bad reps are going to come, especially early. He had a 97.6% career pressure efficiency rate, which is strong, but the 16 penalties and occasional protection breakdowns remind you that the floor can dip when the processing slows down.

The ideal landing spot is a zone-heavy offense with a strong offensive line coach and enough veteran presence on the line that Iheanachor doesn't have to carry the unit from day one. If he can sit behind an established starter or at least split time during his rookie year while refining his hand technique and protection calls, the payoff could be enormous. His physical tools and competitive fire put him in rare company among the tackles in this class. He is not the most polished blocker available, but he might have the highest ceiling of any of them. In a draft cycle thin on blue-chip tackle talent, that combination of traits and trajectory makes him a legitimate value pick.

right in line as the tackle rankings showed. he was the next best OT to be coming off the board. good job kahn, weidl, campen and mccarthy.

 

So that's 3 LT's we have now...

 

Why is he wearing Lambert's number?

 

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