Not long ago, Omar Khan’s infamous call to WR Makai Lemon was the punchline of the NFL Draft. The optics weren’t good, and the media and fanbase ran with it, calling it an unforgivable flub by the draft’s hometown host. “Max Iheanachor?” people asked in disbelief, as the Steelers’ first-round pick’s name wasn’t tossed around in the mock draft zeitgeist.
Fast forward a few months and Iheanachor is one of training camp’s biggest standouts, looking every bit worthy of his first-round status. Nobody is more excited than Khan.
“He’s done a good job, he really has,” Khan said on Sirius XM NFL Radio’s Movin’ The Chains. “It’s exciting to watch.”
Iheanachor isn’t on the field for Saturday Night Lights practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium due to an injury he suffered Thursday. Head coach Mike McCarthy hopes to get him back on the field for Monday’s practice. At the very least, there’s no major injury, which Khan confirmed.
“Can’t wait. Hopefully next week,” he said.
That would have him on track to make his preseason debut on Thursday against the Green Bay Packers. He likely won’t be the first right tackle on the field with Dylan Cook as the starter for now. But it’s only a matter of time before the first-round pick overtakes the former undrafted player with five career starts.
As soon as the pads came on, allowing offensive linemen to show what they’re capable of, Iheanachor started turning heads. His standout performance wasn’t a fluke, either, as he repeated his success the first three days in pads. Pittsburgh fell in love with him because of his performance in one-on-ones at the Senior Bowl in January, and that immediately translated to the NFL with great reps against T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and others.
If he can stop those pass rushers, he has a chance to stop just about anybody in the NFL.
A few months ago, fans were lukewarm on Iheanachor, claiming they’d never get over missing out on Lemon. It’s too early to call the pick a home run, but Omar Khan’s draft nightmare is quickly turning into a dream scenario.
