One of the most special moments of the modern NFL Draft is when the host city’s team gets to make their first-round selection. With the draft being in Pittsburgh this year, the event was briefly paused when the Steelers were put on the clock at No. 21 overall. “Renegade” by Styx blared from the speakers, while franchise legend Jerome Bettis made his way up to the podium to announce that Pittsburgh had selected Max Iheanachor, offensive tackle out of Arizona State.
However, as we learned later, Iheanachor was not the Steelers’ first choice. In fact, Pittsburgh’s brass was on the phone with another prospect before the Philadelphia Eagles traded up to No. 20 overall and swiped him away.
The Dallas Cowboys were originally slated to pick at No. 20 overall, and with them expected to take a defensive player, the Steelers called up USC wide receiver Makai Lemon. As they revealed their plans to draft the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner, the Eagles struck a deal with the Cowboys to move up to No. 20 overall. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Eagles could not reach Lemon, because he was already on the phone with the Steelers. Eventually, Philly made contact with him, and stole Lemon from the other Pennsylvania football team in front of their home fans!
To make matters worse, the Steelers faithful didn’t exactly appear thrilled about the pick.
Iheanachor was CBS Sports’ No. 31 overall prospect in this class. He’s a raw talent: the 6-foot-6, 321-pound blocker moved to the United States from Nigeria at 13 years old and did not play football until he enrolled at East Los Angeles College in 2021!
CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Mike Renner gave the Iheanachor selection a “B+” grade:
“This is definitely not a win now move, but I like it. Iheanachor has the most intriguing developmental tools in the draft class with truly everything you could want to play the tackle position in the NFL. And the kicker: he only started playing football five years ago. For the Steelers, they won’t need necessarily need him to start year one with Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu already set at tackle.”
An explosive slot receiver is definitely a more “sexy” pick than a raw offensive linemen. Lemon racked up 1,156 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns last season. In fact, he had four games in 2025 where he went for 150 yards receiving and a touchdown! That tied the Big Ten single-season record. The Steelers wanted him, but didn’t get him.
