Football <\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers first-round OT Max Iheanachor is still raw, but his flashes are hard to ignore. Despite picking up football just five years ago, he allowed only two sacks across 31 college starts<\/a>. That includes holding No. 2 overall pick David Bailey to zero sacks, a matchup that shows the clearest views of Iheanachor\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n Before diving into his matchup with Bailey, it\u2019s worth revisiting his only other college test against a first-round-caliber pass rusher. In 2024, he faced No. 23 overall pick Malachi Lawrence (UCF) and didn\u2019t allow a single sack or pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest thing when you watch linemen play, you wanna see them strike and stick,\u201d Mike McCarthy said in his press conference after the pick<\/a>. \u201cAnd with that, the balance and the footwork. His ability to stay alive on second or third reaction when he does engage, I think it\u2019s all over the video.\u201d<\/p>\n He put all of those traits on display.<\/p>\n Here he is striking and sticking to Lawrence with great punch placement and latch strength. His anchor holds up much better when he succeeds with his hands.<\/p>\n In terms of footwork, look how smoothly he mirrors and changes direction. Eventually, Lawrence got free, but he wasn\u2019t a threat until eight seconds into the play. Some players sacrifice their base with narrow feet while changing direction, but Iheanachor glides back and forth with his feet evenly spaced.<\/p>\n Lawrence tried to cross his face here, and Iheanachor made quick work of him with quick feet and a strong latch to channel him inside to help.<\/p>\n Iheanachor sometimes waits too long to shoot his hands, resulting in poor punch placement. This wasn\u2019t a terrible rep, but his punch landed wide, and Lawrence was able to chop down the outside punch to create a path into the backfield.<\/p>\n He also played well against Lawrence in the run game, initiating first contact and driving his inside arm to steer him out of the hole. He isn\u2019t a road grader, but he can definitely win with good technique.<\/p>\n Bailey was a bigger challenge for Iheanachor. He surrendered two pressures, but that\u2019s to be expected against the No. 2 overall pick. Bailey had a whopping 14.5 sacks and 19.5 TFL last season as a consensus All-American.<\/p>\n Bailey\u2019s rare blend of speed, power, and hand technique is a lot to deal with, but Iheanachor\u2019s patience paid off several times in the matchup. A late punch isn\u2019t always ideal, but it prevented Bailey from swiping away his punches and winning early on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n It even resulted in Bailey face-planting into the grass once as he misread Iheanachor\u2019s patience and whiffed on his punch entirely.<\/p>\n Where that can backfire is failing to make first contact, giving up his chest, and rapidly getting pushed into the pocket.<\/p>\n Here is one of the pressures that Iheanachor surrendered. He\u2019ll get plenty of work against this move in practice against T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig. The key is winning with the inside arm rather than exposing the outside arm to a swipe.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a perfect rep, but it shows off a lot of what Iheanachor does well. He exploded out of his stance with quick feet to win the angle battle, absorbed a long arm while delivering one of his own, and kept a wide base with even footwork to mirror. It forced the QB to step up, but that\u2019s normally fine when there isn\u2019t immediate interior pressure.<\/p>\nMax Iheanachor vs. Malachi Lawrence (2024)<\/h3>\n
Max Iheanachor vs. David Bailey (2025)<\/h3>\n