Player: DL Yahya Black
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Second-year DL Yahya Black has generated discussion this offseason, including from his position coach, about his potential. As a rookie, he already flashed what he could do, but Domata Peko thinks he can get more out of him. And that starts with, or at least includes, moving him to nose tackle. Of course, talking about it in May and June doesn’t mean much—this is a conversation for padded practices.
A fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Yahya Black caused a Pavlovian response among Steelers fans and their voracious hunger for bid-bodies defensive linemen. Yet the previous Steelers coaching staff didn’t necessarily maximize the utility of his frame, playing him largely at end. Of course, with nickel being their “base” defense, he wasn’t exactly playing a traditional five-technique all the time.
Regardless, the Steelers have a new coaching staff, and that means a new set of evaluators. And in DL coach Domata Peko, Yahya Black has an important new advocate. A former NFL defensive tackle himself, Peko sees real potential in Black. He second of the second-year player that he believes he can be one of the best nose tackles in the NFL. Granted, there aren’t a ton of “true” nose tackles left in the NFL, but nevertheless.
How much value there is in that discussion from a coach who has yet to see Yahya Black up close and personal with pads on, that’s hard to say. Frankly, getting a read on a defensive tackle in May and June is complicated, to put it mildly.
But Black had a solid rookie season, and it’s reasonable to expect him to grow. Peko will naturally have seen Black’s tape from last season, which primarily featured him as a defensive end. Leaning into his larger from Peko now wants to see what he can do more in the middle. Having your coach’s attention alone is enough to raise your stock, so that’s where we are for now. And that’s especially true when we’re talking about a new staff.
With the 2026 offseason well underway and many moves made, we have stock to take. Already promisinga year of change, the Steelers are shaking things up. That is unavoidable, of course, when you gut the coaching staff. Mike Tomlin’s resignation has fundamentally changed this football team, including the players on the roster.
After a long season, the Steelers showed the ability to win the division and make the playoffs. But they also showed that their progress was minimal,since they made it no further. Two years in a row, with two different quarterbacks, they went 10-7 and lost in the Wild Card Round. The only differences are they ended the season on a higher note and won the AFC North. But it didn’t help.
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