Max Iheanachor transitioned from being a soccer goalie in Nigeria to a first-round NFL Draft prospect after moving to the U.S. and trying American football. His journey highlights his unique background and athletic versatility.
Max Iheanachor remembers life as a 13 year old in Nigeria a decade ago.
This was before moving to the United States with his parents, his brother and two sisters. Before trying out AAU basketball. Before a junior college football coach in Los Angeles convinced him to try American football – a sport that was not offered at his high school.
How does Iheanachor's look back as a 23-year-old NFL prospect?
"I was a kid," Iheanachor said during his NFL Scouting Combine interview on March 30. "You don't really have a lot on your plate. Just running around, having fun, playing soccer with my friends. It was fun. The culture we have back home is unbeatable."
Iheanachor – a 6-foot-6, 321-pound tackle – has gone from soccer goalie to potential first-round pick at the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh on Thursday. He would be the 37th NFL player from Nigeria – none more famous than Christian Okoye – a running back who went by the nickname "The Nigerian Nightmare." A total of 10 players from Nigeria played in the NFL last season.
"The journey for Big Max is unique," NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah told The Sporting News. "When you come over to the country at age 13 — when you don't play high school football, you're a basketball player and then you go off to junior college and just embrace the sport. Just look at a short period of time for him to be positioned where he is right now."
That position is, without question, a likely late first or early second round selection, and without question, one of the best stories of this year's draft.
Iheanachor ran a 4.91 in the 40-yard dash with a 1.73 split at the NFL Scouting Combine. That combination of size and athleticism led to the rise up draft boards.
"If you stacked up everybody in this class, and you're going to rank them off of 'first off the bus,' he'd be in the starting five," Jeremiah said. "This dude looks the part. He is a big, athletic, physical specimen who has got all the upside in the world."
When his family moved to Los Angeles, he attended the King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science.
"I went to a high school – we didn't have a football team," Iheanachor said. "Basketball was all I really played. I never really got exposed to football."
Iheanachor played power forward on his AAU basketball team, and it wasn't until a conversation on one of those drives from a tournament with his coach Cory DeSanti that his path took another turn. DeSanti recommended Iheanachor try football.
Iheanachor would enroll at East Los Angeles CC. Everything changed after his first conversation with coach Bobby Godinez.
"Sitting down with the coach and seeing the vision he had for me as an offensive lineman – the long talks we had – it's something I knew I could do from Day 1," Iheanachor said.
Iheanachor credits Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham and offensive line coach Saga Tuitele for the development the last two seasons. Iheanachor loved the culture in Tempe, Ariz. He enjoyed the Jamaican food at the Caribbean Palm. It wasn't Nigerian food – but it passed the test. Tuitele helped Iheanachor refine his game.
"I think (Tuitele) – just the person he was and the standard he set with the offensive line room from Day 1," Iheanachor said. "Just always being hard on us," Iheanachor said. "I feel like it helped everyone – all of us – get better because he wants us to do better."
Draft experts too notice. Iheanachor emerged as a favorite for ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
"It's just a story of a kid who persevered and was an athlete all along and tested off the charts," Kiper told Sporting News. "His size, his length, his athleticism and the fact that he was coached so well just to get to this point. That's a credit to that coaching staff to get him to where he was to where he is now and see that consistency and development and progression."
Jeremiah also noticed the attributes he believes will make Iheanachor a long-term player at the next level.
"He's just got so much core strength," Jeremiah said. "He can jolt guys. He's got really strong hands. There's just times when he's got some polish issues he can clean up where he gives up his chest a little bit, but this is a player that is definitely a starting NFL tackle."
According to Pro Football Focus, Iheanachor did not allow a sack this season. He allowed just three quarterback hits and 11 hurries. One of his best performances came in the 26-22 upset against No. 7 Texas Tech on Oct. 18. The Red Raiders had one of the defenses in the FBS last season, and Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez noticed Iheanachor's play in that game. Iheanachor allowed just two hurries, more than holding his own against likely top-10 selection and All-American EDGE David Bailey.
"That proves how good a player he is and the team he had. He really blew us away with, on, how athletic he is — but also how good of a football player he is," Rodriguez told SN. "I'm excited for him."
Iheanachor is either a late first or early second-round pick ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. Kiper said Iheanachor could land at either No. 23 to Philadelphia or No. 27 to San Francisco. Those would be logical first-round landing spots for teams looking for a tackle.
"You're talking about a guy who I think is a first-round pick," Kiper said. "I know there are some that are — you know, is he there yet? He's still developing. He's still a work in progress, but there is so much to work with when you do what he did in pressure-packed situations and come from where he was that fast."
Jeremiah agrees.
"I have him as a first-round guy," Jeremiah said. I think he has a good shot at getting in the back end of (Round) one. Worst-case scenario is he's going to go early in the second round.
Iheanachor has heard all that talk. In that NFL Scouting Combine interview, however, that was one of the few times he raised his voice.
"I try not to think too much of it," Iheanachor said. "Just control what you can control. That's outside noise. Stay in the present. I can't control that — I feel like that's something I can't control."
