The Pittsburgh Steelers will not win the Super Bowl in May. They can however start the process of trying to do just that with their Rookie Mini-Camp. While nothing is set in stone after this, I’m ready to draw some conclusions.
Max Iheanachor Could Play Sooner Than We Think
The first round selection was told by his coaches that he will be focusing on right tackle. That’s promising for one reason – the days of flipping tackles like Broderick Jones may be over. What is less promising is that the Steelers already have former first round pick Troy Fautanu at right tackle. That’s where the Steelers have a huge decision in my opinion. Fautanu is coming off of a great season at right tackle and while he has college experience playing left, does Mike McCarthy want to mess with his development?
In a perfect world, Fautanu would move seamlessly to the left side and Iheanachor would be more than ready to take on the job at right tackle. The danger in that is moving Fautanu to right but Iheanachor struggles. What then? I have to assume the Steelers are confident that Fautanu can play either side otherwise this could be another questionable season on the offensive line.
Drew Allar Won’t See the Field This Year
Again, this is one of those “break only in case of emergency” type of things but I don’t see Allar playing during the regular season. This is what frustrates me about his selection. They could have likely gotten him in the fourth round which means they could have used that selection for someone who would actually contribute. That’s water under the bridge however.
Allar has far too much to learn and has significant fundamental flaws that have to get cleaned up. You don’t do those things playing during the regular season. If you’re thinking “wasn’t Big Ben similar when he was drafted?” No. Ben Roethlisberger was a first round pick and much further along in his development when he was forced into playing his rookie season.
Gennings Dunker Has a Job to Lose
The red-mulleted folk hero looked as though he came from central casting… Some guys just look and carry themselves like Steelers and Dunker is one of them. We must preface of course that this is still “football in shorts” but I think he’s destined to start at left guard.
Brock Hoffman was signed largely as an emergency type guy. The former Cowboy started 16 games over the last four seasons at center but he also has guard experience. Dunker is far more suited to step in at left guard and while he isn’t a perfect player by any stretch I still see him doing enough to be the guy there.
Time has an interesting way of altering how things unfold. Any, all or none of these conclusions may come to pass but as we sit here on this 2026 Mother’s Day I feel confident about them. I wish I didn’t regarding Iheanachor. I’d like to see him on the field but I’ll defer to the Steelers on this one.
Image courtesy Trib-Live.
