The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2026 NFL Draft with a clear need at offensive tackle. And while they showed interest in wide receiver Makai Lemon before the Philadelphia Eagles moved ahead of them, the Steelers ultimately selected Max Iheanachor with the 21st overall pick.

The only catch, however, is that the Steelers specifically need help at left tackle. Iheanachor, meanwhile, arrives after spending most of his college career at Arizona State at that same spot. That has left former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger questioning exactly how the team plans to deploy its first-round selection.

“Where are they gonna put him?” Roethlisberger said on Tuesday on his Footbahlin’ podcast. “I assume you’re gonna want him to play this year. I would hate for my first-round pick to be a project and be like, ‘In three to five years, he’s gonna be a stud.’ You do that with your second, third, and fourth.

“Your first-round pick, you have to anticipate him coming in and playing right now. That makes me a little nervous about the project…I don’t hate the pick. I just wonder if there wasn’t a more seasoned guy. This may end up being one of those ones where it’s like, ‘Wow, what a steal. What a diamond in the rough.'”

At Arizona State, Iheanachor played 32 games and started 31 at right tackle.

However, Troy Fautanu handled right tackle duties for the Steelers last season. Across the first four games, the 25-year-old logged 225 offensive snaps, accounting for 100% of the team’s offensive plays in that stretch. He allowed zero sacks and just six quarterback pressures. That makes moving Fautanu away from that role a questionable decision, both for the team and for the player himself.

This shifts the focus to left tackle, where Broderick Jones is currently slotted. He struggled early last season, notably allowing three sacks against the New York Jets in Week 1. However, he settled in after that, giving up just two sacks from Week 2 through Week 10.

Even so, Jones was later placed on injured reserve following a neck injury in Week 12 against the Chicago Bears, which adds uncertainty heading into 2026. That naturally raises the question of whether Iheanachor could be moved to the left side.

The challenge, though, is that Iheanachor has spent most of his career at right tackle, and shifting sides is not always seamless. Still, that does not mean he is unwilling to adjust. Iheanachor has already indicated he is open to playing wherever needed.

“I’m open to it,” he said via the team’s YouTube channel. “I’ve been training this whole offseason for it. I played at left tackle in JUCO, played right tackle at ASU. Wherever coaches put me, that’s where I played. Just open to that, ready to get to work.”

The Steelers are set to begin their rookie minicamp soon after the draft, while the 2026 season is still more than four months away. How they ultimately deploy Iheanachor, whether on the left or right side, remains to be seen.

And while Roethlisberger has raised concerns about the first-round pick, the former Steelers quarterback also weighed in on the team’s decision to bring in another quarterback during draft weekend.

Ben Roethlisberger isn’t sure whether he likes or hates Drew Allar’s selection

It’s worth noting why Ben Roethlisberger has been concerned about the Steelers quarterback room. The team has yet to identify a long-term answer since his retirement. This is why he has consistently pushed for Pittsburgh to build around Will Howard, their former sixth-round pick.

“If (Aaron Rodgers) decides, ‘Hey, I’m done. I’m gonna do my thing.’ I would absolutely still not draft a guy in the first round. I would ride with Will Howard for a couple years, give him a chance, keep building this team around him,” he said last month. “I would go O-line first in the draft, get a guard, and I would just absolutely build this team around Will Howard right now.”

Even so, the Steelers went in a different direction, selecting former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar in the third round of this year’s draft at No. 76 overall. And once that happened, Roethlisberger admitted he is still unsure how to feel about the move.

“This is one that I’m not sure yet if I love or hate it,” Ben Roethlisberger said. “You can get a lot of really good players in the third round…I think it was (that) we liked a big physical quarterback. I think he had a lot of hype behind him at one point…I didn’t watch a lot of Penn State games. When I did watch, he never jumped off the page to me. Is he big, can he move can he throw? Yeah, but there was never a time when I was like ‘Whoa…We’ll see about this one.'”

Allar closed out his 2024 season at Penn State by helping the team to a 13-3 record. He threw for 3,327 yards and 24 touchdowns. He returned for his senior year in 2025. But his season was cut short after just six games due to a season-ending ankle injury.

With Aaron Rodgers’ decision still uncertain, many had projected Howard to take control of the quarterback room. Now, with Allar in the mix, the former sixth-rounder faces added competition as he looks to prove himself to Mike McCarthy. In the meantime, the Steelers continue to wait on Rodgers’ call.