{"id":860712,"date":"2026-04-08T10:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/860712\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T10:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:48:17","slug":"i-want-faneca-draft-expert-thinks-steelers-should-get-greedy-with-next-guard-in-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/860712\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I Want Faneca’: Draft Expert Thinks Steelers Should ‘Get Greedy’ With Next Guard In Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Steelers lost their starting left guard this offseason, and draft expert Matt Williamson wants Pittsburgh to get greedy. Rather than settle for an in-house answer<\/a>, or even a later pick, he has his sights set higher. Speaking to Tim Benz recently on Breakfast with Benz<\/a>, he talked about his views on the offensive line generally.<\/p>\n

This offseason, Isaac Seumalo left in free recency, the Steelers\u2019 remaining options at guard being Spencer Anderson and the newly-signed Brock Hoffman. They shouldn\u2019t even dream of contenting themselves with that, however, nor even a mid-round option. While Mason McCormick worked out at right guard, they should want a long-term star.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to get greedy\u201d, Williamson said about the offensive line, going on to talk about the Steelers\u2019 situation at left guard relative to the draft. \u201cI\u2019m a big Hoffman fan. I\u2019m a big Anderson fan. I could live with one of those two being my left guard, but I don\u2019t want to live with it. I want to have an awesome left guard for the next 12 years. I want [Alan] Faneca\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Steelers haven\u2019t had an Alan Faneca<\/a> at guard since, well, Alan Faneca, but former first-round draft pick David DeCastro came fairly close 14 years ago. Since DeCastro, Pittsburgh hasn\u2019t drafted a guard in the top three rounds at all. They drafted Kendrick Green in the third round, but they viewed him as a center.<\/p>\n

Isaac Seumalo served a solid three-year term with the Steelers at left guard, making one Pro Bowl. He cashed in this offseason in free agency, however, and seems to have found an organization that sees a brighter future for him. Pittsburgh may have viewed him as near the end of his career and preferred to move on.<\/p>\n

But do the Steelers share Williamson\u2019s view of the guard position heading into the 2026 NFL Draft? Do they feel a strong compulsion to put a premium player there, continue the retool of their offensive line? Since 2023, they have drafted five linemen, including two first-rounders and one second-rounder.<\/p>\n

None of those draft picks, however, came at guard, the Steelers finding McCormick in the fourth round. Another successful draft pick at guard, Kevin Dotson, came into his own after the Steelers traded him. Even though McCormick seems to have panned out, however, do they need to get away from their mid-round leanings?<\/p>\n

If they do, then the name is obvious, and Steelers fans following the draft know this guard well: Olaivavega Ioane<\/a>. Will he be their first-round pick in Pittsburgh later this month? \u201cHe\u2019s a plug-and-play guard\u201d, Williamson said. \u201cHe would just be too good to pass up<\/a>, to be honest with you\u201d.<\/p>\n

Still, Williamson has another name in mind, too, understanding that the situation at left tackle is equally precarious. In consideration of a position-flexible player, he also likes Max Iheanachor for the Steelers in the draft. \u201cI think he\u2019s the ideal guy to start his career at guard, and then go to tackle\u201d, he said. \u201cHe\u2019s just learning how to kill as we speak\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Steelers lost their starting left guard this offseason, and draft expert Matt Williamson wants Pittsburgh to get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[4955,51612,7,6,53910,520,57,2360,426,67749,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-860712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-breakfast-with-benz","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-olaivavega-ioane","13":"tag-pittsburgh","14":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","15":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","16":"tag-steelers","17":"tag-tim-benz","18":"tag-trending"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116368697991448590","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}