Yahya Black NFL Draft 2025: Scouting Report for Iowa DL

HEIGHT: 6'6"

WEIGHT: 336

HAND: 10¼”

ARM: 35”

WINGSPAN: 83⅞”

40-YARD DASH: 5.39

3-CONE: 7.63

SHUTTLE: 4.72

VERTICAL: 25.5"

BROAD: 8'5"

POSITIVES

— Great size with very long arms.

— Has the strength to win at the point of attack and stand up offensive linemen as a run defender.

— Long arms allow him to get plenty of extension and escape blocks when he picks his hands straight up from the ground

— Hard to move with one-on-one base blocks and is solid against double-teams.

NEGATIVES

— Not explosive off the ball, hurting the effectiveness of his bull rush. Rushes with bad pad level and has subpar leg drive through contact.

— Doesn't show any pass-rush moves that he can win with in the NFL.

— Takes on blocks with a narrow base, causing him to occasionally lose balance on first contact and leading to him getting collapsed inside against down blocks.

— Lacks the agility to avoid getting reached.

NOTES

— Born April 21, 2002

— 3-star recruit in the 2020 class, per 247Sports

— Injuries: 2022 (Foot, missed 5 games)

— 2023 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten

— 2024 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten

OVERALL

Yahya Black has great size and impressive strength at the point of attack to be a solid nose tackle in the NFL. He needs to play with better leverage and base, but his physical gifts should intrigue teams and might make him worth taking a flier on in the later rounds of the draft.

GRADE: 5.8 (Backup/Draftable — 6th-7th Round)

OVERALL RANK: 265

POSITION RANK: DL26

PRO COMPARISON: John Ridgeway

Written by B/R NFL Scout Matt Holder