The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Arizona State offensive lineman Max Iheanachor with the 21st overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, marking their third offensive tackle selection in four years and raising immediate questions about how they plan to employ him alongside incumbent right tackle Troy Fautanu.
Head coach Mike McCarthy moved quickly to clarify the team’s intentions for the rookie, stating flatly that Iheanachor would begin his career at tackle and not be moved inside to guard, a direct response to speculation about positional flexibility. Yet in the same breath, McCarthy left the door open for shifting Fautanu inside, saying there were “lots of options” and that the coaching staff had flexibility in how they arranged the line.
That ambiguity carries weight given recent history. Fautanu had a strong season at right tackle in 2025, but moving him — as the Steelers did with Broderick Jones — risks repeating a pattern where young linemen lose continuity and fail to establish themselves in a fixed role, ultimately hindering development.
Iheanachor’s background adds another layer to the decision. He arrived in the United States from Nigeria at age 13 and did not begin playing football until college, first suiting up for East Los Angeles Community College before following offensive line coach Saga Tuitele to Arizona State. His recruitment story underscores how his path to the NFL was shaped by relationships rather than early exposure, with Steelers general manager Omar Khan saying the team “didn’t want to trade away from this player — it just felt great” during their February draft evaluations.
At the NFL Combine, Iheanachor posted 40-yard dash times of 4.91 and 4.95 seconds, with a 10-yard split of 1.73 seconds — numbers that suggest adequate agility for a lineman but not elite explosiveness. His college experience included snaps at both left and right tackle, though he remained exclusively on the right side in 2025, which may inform the Steelers’ current stance on keeping him outside.
The selection continues a trend of Pittsburgh investing heavily in offensive tackle depth, using first-round picks on the position in 2022, 2023, and now 2026. That repetition suggests either a persistent lack of confidence in existing tackles or a long-term strategy to build interchangeable depth across the line — though the latter seems at odds with McCarthy’s resistance to moving Iheanachor inside.
For now, the plan is clear: Iheanachor starts at tackle, Fautanu stays put — at least for the moment. But the coaching staff’s openness to change, combined with the franchise’s recent history of shifting linemen, means the composition of the Steelers’ offensive line could look very different by midseason.
Why did the Steelers draft another offensive tackle so soon after selecting one in 2023?
The team has not publicly explained the repeated investment, but the pattern suggests either dissatisfaction with current tackle performance or a deliberate effort to build versatile depth along the offensive line, especially given the injury-prone nature of the position.
Could Troy Fautanu actually be moved to guard despite his strong 2025 season?
While no decision has been made, Mike McCarthy explicitly said Notice “lots of options” for Fautanu, acknowledging the possibility of an internal move — though he noted such a shift could evoke uncomfortable memories of how Broderick Jones’ development was hindered by frequent position changes.