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Black Selected by Pittsburgh in 5th Round of NFL DraftBlack Selected by Pittsburgh in 5th Round of NFL Draft
Brian Ray
Football

Black Selected by Pittsburgh in 5th Round of NFL Draft

University of Iowa defensive tackle Yahya Black has been selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of Saturday's NFL Draft. Black was the 164th player picked overall.

by James Allan

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- University of Iowa defensive tackle Yahya Black has been selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of Saturday's NFL Draft. Black was the 164th player picked overall.

It is the third straight season the Hawkeyes have had a defensive lineman selected in the NFL Draft.  Black, who joins teammates Kaleb Johnson and Logan Lee in Pittsburgh, is the 18th defensive lineman drafted under head coach Kirk Ferentz.

Black, an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection as both a junior and senior, started the final 27 games of his Hawkeye career.  As a senior, he finished with 34 tackles, including seven tackles for loss, one sack, two pass break-ups, two hurries and a blocked field goals. 

"Everyone wants a guy that can get up field and be disruptive. It's hard to find the old school, throwback guys, the 6-foot-6, 336 pounders like Yahya Black. They are just not out there anymore. This is a guy that can block it and free up the linebackers. He was practicing against Tyler Linderbaum early in his career. He got beat up a little bit by Tyler, but he grew from that and developed into a guy that became more productive with 34 tackles and seven TFL. He's underrated, you can't get guys with this size with this talent for the 3-4 scheme."

ESPN Analyst Mel Kiper

Pittsburgh won 10 games a year ago, finishing second in the AFC North. It marks the second straight year the Steelers drafted a Hawkeye defensive lineman, as Logan Lee was picked in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Iowa has had at least one player drafted in every NFL Draft since 1978. Black is the 91st player coached by Kirk Ferentz at the University of Iowa to be selected in the NFL Draft.