I must learn how to pronounce “Iheanachor.”

The NFL entry draft is a wonderful thing. Thousands of professional-eligible football players wait for their name to be called by one of 32 different NFL teams. Their entry into the NFL already starts their storyline. Does the first-round draft pick live up to the hype, or will he be a failure and out of the league in nothing flat? Will the anonymous person drafted in the sixth round suddenly get thrust into the spotlight, and lead his team to multiple championships?

For the Pittsburgh Steelers (the only football team anyone should care about), our run of first-round draft picks reads almost like a Hall of Fame wing. Mean Joe Greene. Terry Bradshaw. Troy Polamalu. And future Hall of Famers Cameron Heyward and TJ Watt. Oh, and that one quarterback who, because of his off-the-field treatment of women, does not get mentioned in my blog, ever.

But the Steelers are not immune to draft busts. We drafted Huey Richardson and he flamed out after half a year. Kenny Pickett was fragile and selfish. Broderick Jones is inconsistent. Ryan Shazier’s brilliant career fell to a horrible on-the-field career-ending injury.

So the team – with a whopping TWELVE draft picks in this year’s 2026 NFL Draft – made their first pick under new head coach Mike McCarthy. They snagged Max Iheanachor of Arizona State, defensive tackle.

This guy.

So what does this mean for Steelers nation?

Let’s see. Iheanachor can play right tackle, which means Troy Fatuani (last year’s Steelers pick) can move to his natural left tackle position, which essentially means that Broderick Jones – who has battled neck injuries and inconsistency – is expendable. Rebuild, then reload.

It also means that by drafting a defensive tackle, the Steelers are trusting that Aaron Rodgers will come out of whatever Fortress of Solitude he entered after last season for one more run as Steelers QB1. We didn’t jump on the first available quarterback in the draft – I mean, we weren’t going to trade up for Fernando Mendoza, and Ty Simpson wasn’t going to fall to the 21st pick anyway. So we’re going in with our chips on Aaron Rodgers, and maybe Will Howard as QB2. Mason Rudolph might still be in play, although that man has had more chances in Pittsburgh than he deserves.

So where do we go from here in the second and third rounds?

I’d like some wide receiver talent. The Steelers have always found wide receivers in the second and third rounds – JuJu Smith-Schuster, Antonio Brown, George Pickens, to name a few. But right now our WR lineup is kinda thin. We signed Michael Pittman Jr. to a contract, and we’ve still got DK Metcalf (if he can stop fighting with the fans). Calvin Austin III just left for a one-year contract with the Giants, and I don’t know if Pat Freiermuth has any more good years left in him. So, yeah. We need some WR / TE talent and we need it now, or we’ll be relying on Chris Boswell to kick nine field goals a game for wins.

I’m not worried about our running back crew – Jaylen Warren has played his way into the starting rotation, but I’d sure like a solid RB2 if there’s one out there.

But we can sign all these guys now … and all they are are just names. We won’t know a damn thing about them until Week 1 of the NFL season.

And somewhere down the road, I hope it gets to the point where I can rattle off Max Iheanachor’s name without having to double-check it from another source. You know, like Troy Polamalu or Chris Fuamatu-Maʻafala. You know. Just like saying gahnta.

Gahnta. As in Pittsburgh gahnta Super Bowl.