336-pound draft pick Yahya Black among heaviest defensive players in recent Steelers history

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a big problem. They went out and got just about the biggest solution possible.

Their porous run defense seemingly torpedoing a once-promising 2024 season down the stretch, the Steelers have devoted offseason resources into addressing it. And while the investment into Yahya Black wasn’t the most significant addition, Black himself is the (literal) biggest piece of the puzzle.

The 336-pound Black (according to Combine measurements) becomes the heaviest player on the Steelers defense, according to the roster. With the caveat that listed weights often aren’t the most precise (they rarely get updated once a player enters the league), if Black appears in a game he would become the heaviest Steelers defensive player to do so in six years.

“I was a string bean when I got to Iowa,” Black said shortly after being selected with a fifth-round pick last weekend. “The weightlifting program at Iowa, they really do it right. Maybe the pounds weren’t the best early on, but they really molded me into the guy I am now.”

Black joins the 313-pound Derrick Harmon (the Steelers’ first-round pick) and 300-pound veteran free-agent signee Daniel Ekuale as additions to the defensive line in recent months.

Last season, the defensive player with the heaviest weight listed on the roster was Keeanu Benton (309 pounds). Among all players on the current 90-man offseason roster, only 340-pound offensive lineman Steven Jones is heavier than Black. The most recent player to appear in a regular-season game for the Steelers heavier than Black — regardless of position — was offensive tackle Zach Banner in 2021. Banner was listed at 358 pounds — but at 6-foot-8, that’s 3 inches more space to fill than Black.

The most recent defensive player to play for the Steelers in the regular season who was listed as heavier than Black was Dan McCullers, who was pegged at 6-7, 352 pounds in 2019.

As coach Mike Tomlin said of Black after the draft: “He’s a big chassis. There are F-150s — he’s like an F-350.”

“It’s always good when you get big guys,” defensive line coach Karl Dunbar said. “So, we’re really excited about Yahya. I watched a lot of his tape. Good, physical young man.”

Steelers DL coach Karl Dunbar on 5th-rd pick Yahya Black pic.twitter.com/e38j28gcPV

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) April 26, 2025

Black was regarded as one of the best pure run-stuffing defensive tackles available in this year’s draft. Perhaps a generation ago, when the nose tackle was a more utilized position, Black would have been selected higher than No. 164 overall.

According to Pro Football Focus data, in 2023 only one power-conference interior defensive lineman in the country made more tackles against the running game than Black (40).

This past season, Black had the 13th-best PFF grade against the run of all power-conference interior defensive linemen nationally. Only eight interior defensive linemen from power programs had more of what PFF designates as run “stops” (a tackle that was a “win” for the defense; e.g., short of the line to gain on third down).

Yahya Black:

- 6’6 336lbs, a massive human being
- Projects at NT in the NFL
- Wingspan is more than 7 feet????

A long arm Nose Tackle who is known for stuffing the run and batting down passes (11 in 2024). A great add to this Pittsburgh front.

pic.twitter.com/kRWD6oPBCl

— Steelers Draft HQ (@SteelersDraftt) April 26, 2025

Black believes “repetition and consistency” are what makes for a stout run stopper.

“What it really comes down to is the fundamentals,” Black said. “(For Iowa defensive line coach) Kelvin Bell, it was doing the same thing every single day. He’d always say the Bruce Lee quote, ‘I don’t fear the man that trains 10,000 kicks one time. I fear the man that trains one kick 10,000 times.’”

Dunbar wouldn’t commit to a precise position for Black, noting that in Benton the Steelers have “a pretty good nose tackle on staff right now.” But if Black proves as adept against the run in the pros as he did for Iowa, that could free up Benton to play more toward the outside of the formation.

Dunbar said initially Black would learn the 4-technique (lining up across from the opposing tackle).

“You have to know your role,” Black said. “If you don’t know your role, then you’re really lost, and you can’t do everything at once. So Coach Dunbar was like, ‘Hey, if you know what you’re doing, you can get better at the other stuff and improve. But right now, focus on what you need to focus on.’”