GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers have a good stash of young, athletic behemoths on their offensive line, but they always could use another.
It’s why they have brought in Arizona State’s Max Iheanachor for a top-30 pre-draft visit. KPRC-2 in Houston was first to report the visit.
The 6-foot-6, 321-pound Iheanachor is a remarkable story. His parents moved from Nigeria to Compton, California, when he was 13 years old. Having played soccer in Nigeria, Iheanachor gravitated to basketball, in part because his high school did not have a football team.
His AAU basketball coach suggested he try football, and so he enrolled in East Los Angeles College to give it a try.
“I mean, it was just after some summer basketball game, we just had a conversation in the car, on the ride back, and he was just kind of, like, advising me to play football, and he introduced me to the head coach at East Los Angeles College,” Iheanachor said at the NFL scouting combine. “Everything took off from there.”
For two years, he worked on building his body and learning offensive line technique. He started to draw more attention given his size and athleticism, and eventually landed at Arizona State.
He started five games as a redshirt sophomore before becoming the full-time right tackle, starting 26 games his final two seasons. After not giving up a sack his senior year, he was named second-team all-Big 12.
He received an invitation to the Senior Bowl and excelled against top competition.
“I'll definitely say my mindset is always, just keep being me, play confident, go out there, and always trust my abilities,” Iheanachor said. “To just go out there and get my job done, no matter what. So, I mean, it's a new level. Everybody's faster right here, I mean, just having confidence.
“The No. 1 key, is going out there, trusting you’re going to do your job.”
Iheanachor’s stock rose when at the combine, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.91 seconds, posted a 30½-inch vertical and bench-pressed 225 pounds 25 times. With his 34-inch arms, talk began to surface that he could be a first- or second-round pick.
His relative athletic score was 9.86 (10 is the highest).
The team that drafts him will have to spend a lot of time catching him up on what it takes to become an effective NFL blocker, but his size and athleticism will put him in a great place to start. He may not be ready to take on a starting role, but if he were to drop into the second round, the Packers would certainly consider him.
They have young, athletic big men in Jordan Morgan, Anthony Belton and Travis Glover, but given the number of injuries they’ve had on the offensive line, they will be looking for more help. Iheanachor would be a luxury for them, but at No. 52, he could be the best player left on their board.
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers eyeing rising offensive tackle prospect as draft nears