The Pittsburgh Steelers were always going to draft a defensive lineman with one of their first picks of the 2025 NFL Draft. The real question was whether or not they would double dip at the position with one of the deepest and most talented DL classes in recent memory. They did that with fifth-round DT Yahya Black, and he is already looking like a steal for them.
“I feel like they got maybe a third-round talent for a fifth-round price,” The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo said of Black via 93.7 The Fan’s Pomp and Joe Show.
Black was the 22nd defensive tackle off the board at No. 164 overall in the fifth round. The 22nd-best prospect at any position is typically lucky to make an NFL 53-man roster in his rookie season, let alone end up as a meaningful contributor with starter upside. It speaks to how talented the 2025 DL class was, but every team evaluates players differently and there is always value to be found in the later rounds.
Omar Khan said that Black was an easy choice in the fifth round while suggesting the Steelers had a higher grade on him than where he ended up going. Based on his standout training camp and preseason, that evaluation already looks like a slam dunk.
So why did Black get overlooked by 31 other teams while the Steelers waited for him to fall to the fifth round?
“I think part of it goes back to how Iowa plays defense and their legitimate two-gapping defensive front,” DeFabo said. “Your job is to keep linebackers clean. And over the last two years, their star linebacker I think racked up nearly 140 tackles because guys like Yahya Black were keeping him clean. So now he comes to the Steelers, they also allow their defensive linemen to attack up field a bit more than Iowa did. So he’s flashing more. He is more impactful.”
Cam Heyward set a ridiculously high bar with 11 passes defensed last season by batting down balls at the line of scrimmage. Black and his 35-inch arms have already shown an aptitude for that at training camp.
It was obvious he could turn into a good run stuffer, but I think he’s already flashed more than expected as a pass rusher. He showed active hands and a red-hot motor in the preseason with back-to-back sacks in the finale against the Panthers.
Prior to Black, the Steelers hadn’t had a fifth-round pick since 2021 when they took Isaiahh Loudermilk. And their history in that round is abysmal dating back 20-plus years. It seems like they may have finally bucked that trend by finding a building block for the next era of the defensive line in Pittsburgh.
