While Teryl Austin continues to insist Yahya Black can play nose tackle, he continues to make clear he won’t—yet. Last week, with questions about the Steelers’ defensive tackle play, he addressed the topic again, and why they don’t want the rookie there for now.
“No, it’s not a no-go”, Austin said about Black playing nose tackle via transcript provided by the Steelers’ media department. “I think where he is right now, again, he gives us some options out there because we do have, between Daniel [Ekuale] and Keeanu [Benton], two guys that can play inside, where he can play outside, he can play them both”.
“I think right now that’s where [Black]’s been practicing and doing a lot of his work. You don’t want to really upend him and screw him up and put him inside and give him a full boat inside because the blocking schemes are different, the things that come at you are a little different”.
Back in August, with the preseason winding down, Austin said Yahya Black would “absolutely” see time at nose tackle. He didn’t specify when, but clearly, that time is not now. In the meantime, Austin is addressing weekly questions about current nose tackle Keeanu Benton’s struggles.
But with the Steelers having used him at end all offseason, they don’t want to change course right now. Especially with Isaiahh Loudermilk’s injury and Derrick Harmon just getting back, Austin views it as a luxury to try to move Yahya Black around at the moment.
“I do agree with you. He is a big, strong man, and he can eat up double-teams and he can get off blocks, and he’s only going to get better”, he said of Black. “I hope, once we get back to full health, we’ll be able to start teaching him a little bit inside in addition to the outside stuff”.
With Loudermilk exiting last week’s game due to injury, Black logged 40 snaps. He registered three tackles, now with five on the season across 64 snaps. Despite the immense preseason hype, he has looked like a rookie. Even as the largest player on the team, he is finding himself on his back too often.
The Steelers drafted Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black in April to address their lack of depth and size in the middle of the defense. So far, they haven’t seen Harmon play. Black is working on adjusting to the NFL level, perhaps a little overconfident after beating backups in the preseason.
Of course, nobody should be reaching sweeping conclusions after two games. We don’t know what the future holds for Black, nor do the Steelers. Teryl Austin has already acknowledged he’s unsure what will ultimately be his best position. But they won’t find out until they start working on it, and right now, they’re not.
