Yahya Black
Yahya Black
Player: DL Yahya Black
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Bigger and better than ever, Yahya Black could take a considerable step forward this year as a nose tackle. During his rookie season, the Steelers started him out at end and were reluctant to put more on his plate. Now with a full offseason, and a full belly, he has achieved the ideal male form.
Could all the spring hype over Yahya Black prove to be true? Have the Steelers finally found an old-school nose tackle who could force his way onto the field and stuff the run? That would be bad news for Keeanu Benton—and his contract—if true.
The Steelers, of course, must do what is in their best interests. If Yahya Black proves to be their best asset at nose tackle, they need to play him. And at this point, it certainly looks as though he has that potential. But it will sure be nice to get a nice, long look at him in the preseason, beginning this week.
He may not have needed it, but Black looks like he’s put on weight this offseason. At the very least, he looks more like a nose tackle than Benton does. Yet Mike McCarthy also said that he was surprised by how well he moves for a man his size, so there’s that, too.
This is the time of year to get excited about guys, and in a football town like Pittsburgh, a guy like Yahya Black is somebody people are going to want to be excited about. He may just be someone who deserves that excitement, after all. New Steelers DL Domata Peko saw potential in him to be an elite nose tackle before ever seeing him in pads.
Now, soon, we will all get to see him in pads, and in live tackling situations against actual opponents. If Black can do in games what he’s been doing throughout this offseason, the coaches will have trouble keeping him off the field on first and second down. And offenses will trouble to stay out of third and long, which is the idea.
With the 2026 training camp here and many moves made, we have stock to take. Already promisinga year of change, the Steelers have shaken 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.