Max Iheanachor's path to the NFL isn't exactly what his parents envisioned.
"They're Nigerians. If you're familiar with Nigerians, they love school, they love lawyers, doctors," Iheanachor said via conference call after being selected 21st overall by the Steelers in the 2026 NFL Draft. "They wanted me to go to a four-year [college], but I knew that's not what I wanted to do."
Iheanachor doesn't have the typical path to being an NFL player. In fact, he didn't even play football in high school. He played both basketball and soccer, but wound up enrolling at East Los Angeles College to play football. After two seasons there, he wound up being the No. 7 JUCO prospect and wound up committing to Arizona State. From there, he played 32 games, starting for two seasons, allowing three sacks allowed, eight quarterback hits and 39 hurries.
The Steelers love a lot of things about Iheanachor. He has good length (33 7/8-inch arms), mass and frame for an NFL offensive tackle (6-5, 321 pounds). His play strength shows up on tape, along with very quick feet and excellent body control (thanks to his background in basketball). Because he's so new to the position, he is still pretty raw, especially in pass protection. But, the Steelers have a very experience offensive line coach in James Campen, so they aren't afraid of developing him.
The upside is scary good. Should Iheanachor hit, he might make fans completely forget about how Omar Khanfumbled away the opportunity to draft Makai Lemon. It's going to take a lot of work for him to realize that very high ceiling, but he sounds like he's ready for the challenge.
"(I'm) a guy that's going to work hard every day, and just read about the little things, treat people good," Iheanachor said. "You know, come up there with great intensity every day in the building, ready to work hard. But obviously it's a brotherhood, so we all look out for each other at the end of the day because that's who we're going to war with at the end of the day. But just coming in, ready to work and just fit in wherever they want me to be at, and to get to rolling."
Iheanachor played exclusively right tackle at Arizona State, but neither Khan or Mike McCarthy would commit to saying what side they envision him playing, just that he'll be a tackle. Position flexibility is a big part of the game now, and Iheanachor is so young and malleable that a move now might be fine. Either way, he's ready to embrace what it means to be a Steeler, which playing for a team in which Hines Ward is one of the coaches, he's already gotten a little bit of a taste of what that means exactly.
"He came in with great energy. Talked to the receivers group a lot," Iheanachor said of Ward. "But I mean, just his grit he played with on the field. One of his main things was he blocked hard, and he always preached that for the receivers, and they improved a lot on that. But that’s the type of man he is. Comes up every day. Great energy. Carries himself well. I definitely got to experience what a Steeler is first-hand before going in the building with the actual team."
THE ASYLUM
Iheanachor eager after unusual path
Max Iheanachor's path to the NFL isn't exactly what his parents envisioned.
"They're Nigerians. If you're familiar with Nigerians, they love school, they love lawyers, doctors," Iheanachor said via conference call after being selected 21st overall by the Steelers in the 2026 NFL Draft. "They wanted me to go to a four-year [college], but I knew that's not what I wanted to do."
Iheanachor doesn't have the typical path to being an NFL player. In fact, he didn't even play football in high school. He played both basketball and soccer, but wound up enrolling at East Los Angeles College to play football. After two seasons there, he wound up being the No. 7 JUCO prospect and wound up committing to Arizona State. From there, he played 32 games, starting for two seasons, allowing three sacks allowed, eight quarterback hits and 39 hurries.
The Steelers love a lot of things about Iheanachor. He has good length (33 7/8-inch arms), mass and frame for an NFL offensive tackle (6-5, 321 pounds). His play strength shows up on tape, along with very quick feet and excellent body control (thanks to his background in basketball). Because he's so new to the position, he is still pretty raw, especially in pass protection. But, the Steelers have a very experience offensive line coach in James Campen, so they aren't afraid of developing him.
The upside is scary good. Should Iheanachor hit, he might make fans completely forget about how Omar Khan fumbled away the opportunity to draft Makai Lemon. It's going to take a lot of work for him to realize that very high ceiling, but he sounds like he's ready for the challenge.
"(I'm) a guy that's going to work hard every day, and just read about the little things, treat people good," Iheanachor said. "You know, come up there with great intensity every day in the building, ready to work hard. But obviously it's a brotherhood, so we all look out for each other at the end of the day because that's who we're going to war with at the end of the day. But just coming in, ready to work and just fit in wherever they want me to be at, and to get to rolling."
Iheanachor played exclusively right tackle at Arizona State, but neither Khan or Mike McCarthy would commit to saying what side they envision him playing, just that he'll be a tackle. Position flexibility is a big part of the game now, and Iheanachor is so young and malleable that a move now might be fine. Either way, he's ready to embrace what it means to be a Steeler, which playing for a team in which Hines Ward is one of the coaches, he's already gotten a little bit of a taste of what that means exactly.
"He came in with great energy. Talked to the receivers group a lot," Iheanachor said of Ward. "But I mean, just his grit he played with on the field. One of his main things was he blocked hard, and he always preached that for the receivers, and they improved a lot on that. But that’s the type of man he is. Comes up every day. Great energy. Carries himself well. I definitely got to experience what a Steeler is first-hand before going in the building with the actual team."
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