Offensive tackle is a big need for the Steelers, Matt Williamson believes, but can they address it without drafting a tackle? The veteran draft analyst offered an interesting proposal about how Pittsburgh should handle the situation this offseason. While he isn’t writing either Broderick Jones or Dylan Cook off, he believes they must do something.
“You do not, I can’t repeat this enough, you do not want to go shopping outside of the draft for a starting offensive tackle. You will overpay and you won’t be happy with the player”, Williamson told Tim Benz on the Breakfast with Benz podcast. He pointed out former Steelers fourth-round draft pick Dan Moore Jr., who signed a big contract in free agency a year ago as a top left tackle. If they don’t have an answer soon, they could be looking at the same market, he fears.
But the issue he sees is that the guard class is stronger than the tackle class. At the same time, this is a guard class full of prospects who can play tackle. Or tackle prospects who might be better off starting at guard at the next left. So what he suggests the Steelers do is draft a lineman who can play guard as a rookie and move to tackle later on, as early as 2027. While a tackle-to-guard transition is more common, the reverse is also done. Yet his top pick is certainly an interesting one.
“My man crush is Max Iheanachor from Arizona State because for several reasons, I think he’s the ideal guy to start his career at guard and then go to tackle”, the Steelers draft analyst said. Born in Africa, Williamson describes him as being relatively new to football, but “He’s just learning how to kill as we speak”.
While Steelers Depot’s initial analysis didn’t pick him as a first-round talent, he is a tackle identified as a player rising up the draft boards more recently. He is a player who would need to grow, but could he start at guard right away?
Either way, Williamson is convinced the Steelers need to do something at tackle in the draft, for one specific reason. “Next year, I can’t be having this conversation with you and say the Steelers’ two biggest needs going into this draft are quarterback and left tackle”, he said. “Because you can’t get both, especially if you’re going to have to trade up for a quarterback. It has to be one or the other”.
Again, he reiterated that maybe the Steelers would be fine with Jones and Cook at tackle, but if both fail and you don’t draft another option, then you’re looking at a very bad scenario in 2027. If you do into a draft needing a franchise quarterback and a left tackle, you’re in trouble.
While Williamson named Iheanachor, he sees other guard-to-tackle draft prospects for the Steelers. Spencer Fano and Kadyn Proctor are all on his radar. He believes any of them could start at left guard this year and left tackle next year. But he sees Caleb Lomu as one pure tackle who could work.
Bottom line, he believes this year’s tackle-capable draft class is too good for the Steelers to ignore. “What never, ever happens is playoff teams being able to pick a true tackle in the 20s. And there may be three or four that go to playoff teams, maybe even starting with Pittsburgh at 21”, he argued. “And I think Lomu’s like the perfect example of that”.
On top of that, Williamson questions whether you can find your future tackle after the first round. Conversely, he sees several potential options at guard. While he believes one of the top two picks must be a wide receiver, he is on board with drafting two linemen early. And perhaps the Steelers should be, too.