LATROBE, Pa. — "I'm very excited about Max (Iheanachor). Our offensive line coaches are bouncing off the wall … He's great for us. A stud of a young man. Throughout the process, you heard about him a little bit early, and he just kept growing and growing and growing through the evaluation … I think it's an excellent pick for us. He'll be a great addition to our offensive line."
That was Coach Mike McCarthy in the immediate aftermath of the Steelers making Max Iheanachor their No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. One week into training camp and two days into practice in pads here at Saint Vincent College, and it's starting to come into focus exactly why the team's offensive line coaches were "bouncing off the wall" back on April 23.
Iheanachor has been lining up as the No. 2 right tackle behind Dylan Cook, the fifth-year pro who filled in so admirably at left tackle last season following the neck injury to Broderick Jones. And while it's too early in the process to anticipate any changes to that on the depth chart, it's not too soon to point out that Iheanachor has been impressive so far.
Born in Nigeria where he played soccer, Iheanachor didn't even begin playing football until he had enrolled in a junior college after high school where he also was a physical presence on the basketball court. During the run-up to the 2026 Draft, Iheanachor was labeled a developmental prospect, albeit one with an intriguing set of physical skills to go along with an athleticism developed on the soccer pitch and in AAU basketball.
Listed at 6-foot-6, 321 pounds, Iheanachor certainly passes the eye test, and each day here this summer he has been looking more like the NFL offensive tackle he aspires to be.
During a snippet of Monday's practice, Iheanachor went up against T.J. Watt and Jack Sawyer during a one-on-one pass-rush period and flashed the things that likely had the offensive line coaches bouncing off the wall back in April.
Against Watt, who tried to win with a bull-rush, Iheanachor quickly anchored and countered strength with strength to win that repetition. Then against Sawyer, who attempted to beat him with a move to the outside, Iheanachor used his quick feet to shuffle outside and ride Sawyer around and behind the quarterback, which won that repetition.
Max Starks started at OT in each of the Steelers most recent Super Bowl wins and now serves as the color analyst for games on the Steelers audio network, typically spends his practice-watching time around the linemen, and he said this about Iheanachor on Tuesday: "He doesn't make the same mistake twice."
Cook has remained the No. 1 RT in team drills, but Iheanachor looks to be improving daily and at this point cannot be discounted as a threat to take over the job.
"Trying to establish a starting five (on the offensive line) is something you're always going through in training camp, but most importantly is the depth," McCarthy said on Tuesday. "I know my recent experiences, we've played a lot of offensive linemen. That's why you hear me talk about position flexibility so much. It's critical, particularly in the 17-game season. So, I really like the group, but I think (Monday) being the first day in pads is a real starting point of who we are and who we want to be and what work we have to do."
OBSERVATIONS
• During a special teams period, Chris Boswell was perfect on all of his field goal attempts, the last of which was from 57 yards. During a kickoff coverage/kickoff return drill within the same special teams period, rookie Kaden Wetjen was lined up as the primary returner, and also deployed alongside him at different times were Roman Wilson and Eli Heidenreich.
• It's not 7-shots, but on Tuesday, the Steelers did something similar. There were 5 plays run individually from inside the 10-yard line. All of the plays were run out of the shotgun; Jaylen Warren got the ball on the only running play; Ben Skowronek made a nice catch in the back corner of the end zone on a pass from Mason Rudolph; and CB Daylen Everette did a drive-by on a short pass to Darnell Washington, who looks to be an even more physically imposing receiving option heading into his fourth NFL season.
• Alex Highsmith always has had an effective spin-move in his pass rush repertoire, and it looked even more deadly in a couple of repetitions during Tuesday's practice.
• Once again, the final period of practice was dedicated to the 2-minute drill. On a fourth-down play, CB Jamel Dean broke up a slant pass to prevent the conversion. On the final play of the period, Roman Wilson made a diving catch on a quick slant in the end zone.
UP NEXT
Wednesday's practice is not open to the public. The Steelers are scheduled for three straight padded practices on Thursday, Friday ,and Saturday. The Thursday and Friday practices both are to begin at 11 a.m., and the Saturday practice will be held at Latrobe Memorial Stadium and is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
