Ben Roethlisberger & Charlie Batch Call for the Steelers to Start Their 2026 First-Round Pick
The New England Patriots bounced back after their Week One Loss to the reigning Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks by defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-3. After this Week Two loss, it’s clear that the Steelers need to solve their offensive line problems. Pittsburgh’s O-line failed to protect veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers, resulting in four sacks. 25-year-old lineman Troy Fanutanu put it best when he remarked, “Something’s gotta change.”
During his Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast on Tuesday, the legendary former Steelers quarterback called for the team to start their 2026 first-round pick Max Iheanachor. He said, “Where’s I-Max? So my question is this. Why is he not playing? Is there something going on in practice or the meeting rooms? If you draft a guy in the first round, there’s a reason you drafted in the first round. You don’t draft an offensive lineman in the first round saying, ‘You know what? He’s gonna be great next year. He’s gonna be great in two years.’ Not linemen. You don’t do that.”
Roethlisberger summed it up succinctly, stating, “He can’t be worse than what’s in there right now.” He stressed the importance of the Steelers improving their offensive line performance, saying, “They gotta get something figured out. And at some point, you only have so much talent at certain spots. This dude has talent, or else he wouldn’t have been drafted early. At some point, get him in there. You might as well. Take your lumps. Figure out what position you want him at and say, ‘Listen, just be physical.’ Because we know he’s a big, physical dude.”
During an appearance on 102.5 WDVE’s Morning Show on Tuesday, former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch was asked if he believes it’s time to start Iheanachor. He explained, “I would do it right now, only in the sense that I don’t think Troy Fautanu is healthy on that side. Last week, he missed all week of practice. He came back ready to go, and now we’re hearing reports of him in a walking boot after the game. If he’s not healthy, I would move Dylan Cook back to that left side, something that he did decent last year as the season went on, and then now start the clock with Max Iheanachor [on the right]. That’s the direction that I would go.”
During his time at Arizona State, Iheanachor played in 32 games, starting in 31. He earned second-team All-Big 12 honors in 2025. The 22-year-old played 860 snaps during the season and allowed no sacks. He only allowed three quarterback hits and 11 hurries, for a total of 14 pressures.
Per Steelers Depot, the team has allowed 28 pressures on their 42-year-old quarterback across both games, resulting in six sacks. If Pittsburgh wants to keep Rodgers on the field, they need to protect him. While one change won’t fix all their offensive line problems, it’s certainly a great place to start. Given his college stats and his six-foot-six, 321-pound frame, Iheanachor can certainly protect Rodgers. He can’t play worse than the Steelers’ offensive line has been in the first two weeks of the 2026 season.
