Of the first-round tackles in the 2026 class, the best landing spot comes down to two names, and only one of them is set to play in a situation built to win right now.
On Football Debate Club, Jacob Infante and Omari Brown split the question. Infante took Max Iheanachor and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Brown took Blake Miller and the Detroit Lions. Both cases are good. Brown’s is better, and recent news is the reason why.
Max Iheanachor’s Steelers Runway Just Got Complicated
“I’m going to go Max [Iheanachor] with the Pittsburgh Steelers. A lot of that comes down to the fact that he isn’t going to be expected to start right away,” Infante said.
“You have Troy [Fautanu] who’s going to start. Broderick Jones hasn’t quite lived up to the hype, but I get the sense he’s still going to start above [Iheanachor] this year. In the long run, [Iheanachor] is going to be expected to be a starter. But if you’re talking about a guy who never even played high school football, he’s raw in the pad level, the hand placement, the timing and accuracy of the strikes. Giving him a year to sit while he improves is really going to emphasize the size, the length, the athleticism he brings.”
Iheanachor is one of the draft’s best stories. He was born in Nigeria, moved to the United States at 13, played soccer and basketball, and didn’t touch football until junior college. He went No. 21 to Pittsburgh after fewer than five years in the sport, a 6-6, 321-pound athlete who ran a 4.91 forty and did not allow a sack in 2025. He is raw in exactly the ways Infante described, so the logic of sitting him is sound.
The problem is the runway shrank. Broderick Jones, the incumbent left tackle, suffered a neck injury in Week 12 that required spinal fusion surgery, then a setback this offseason. He has no timeline, has not practiced in team drills, and the Steelers declined his fifth-year option. Pittsburgh has already moved Troy Fautanu to left tackle, which leaves Iheanachor competing for the starting right tackle job as a rookie. The plan to let him sit depends on a healthy Jones the team is not counting on.
Why Blake Miller’s Lions Fit Is the Cleaner Bet
“One of my favorite picks for the entire first round was Blake Miller to Detroit,” Brown said. “He’s a four-year starter with prototypical size. With a lot of these guys, we project them to right tackle because they played left tackle in college. He’s been a right tackle predominantly, and he has over 50 career starts at Clemson. It fits the mold that Dan Campbell likes. You get to move [Penei] Sewell back to his comfortable position at left tackle. I just think this makes the entire offensive line whole.”
Miller is the ready answer. He made 54 career starts at Clemson, a school-record 3,778 snaps, earned two first-team All-ACC nods, and did almost all of it at right tackle. Detroit released Taylor Decker this offseason, creating the opening, and Miller is set to start at right tackle in Week 1. That kicks All-Pro Penei Sewell to left tackle, his natural position from Oregon and the spot he held as a rookie when Decker was hurt. One pick fills a hole and settles two spots.
The fit is the Campbell archetype, a 54-game starter and team captain who plays with a mean streak. Brown’s “makes the offensive line whole” is the right read. Miller protects Jared Goff on a roster built to contend in 2026, not to develop for 2027.
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The irony is that Infante’s argument for Iheanachor leaned on him not having to play, and that is the part that fell apart. Both rookies may start in Week 1 now. The difference is what they are starting into. Miller steps onto a finished, ascending line in front of a quality quarterback. Iheanachor steps into a tackle room still waiting to learn whether its incumbent can play again. The best landing spot goes to Detroit.
