Tipping the scales at 330 pounds, it felt like a natural fit to plug rookie Yahya Black at nose tackle. That was expectation right after the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the fifth round of last April’s draft. But it quickly became evident Pittsburgh was open to playing him at defensive end. It’s where he spent time at training camp and logged most of his regular-season snaps.

With a new coaching staff, the question must be asked again. Is Black a burly nose tackle or an athletic defensive end?

It’s hard to know which way the team is leaning. New coaches like defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and defensive line coach Domata Peko may need time to figure it out. To get Black on the field and see where he fits best based on system, scheme, and team need.

The old regime’s calculation of playing Black at defensive end showed merit. Black held his own closer to the perimeter, showing the foot speed and balance to handle himself aligned against a tackle instead of guards and centers.

Per our charting, here’s where Black aligned in 2025:

Yahya Black Alignment

Defensive Tackle – 191
Defensive End – 154
Nose Tackle – 80

Most of those d-tackle snaps came in sub-packages. His d-end snaps came in Pittsburgh’s three-down lineman looks with nose tackle also primarily coming in the Steelers’ base 3-4. The majority of his time at nose happened late in the season after backup NT Daniel Ekuale tore his ACL and the team’s midseason addition of Brodric Martin-Rhodes offered nothing. Of those 80 snaps, 53 of them came across the team’s final five weeks.

Pittsburgh needs a backup nose tackle. There’s nothing behind Keeanu Benton and having a more traditional body like Black fits. But that would also take away depth at defensive end that’s also lacking. Even assuming Cam Heyward returns to start opposite Derrick Harmon, what’s behind them if Black is playing nose tackle? Very little.

The offseason will offer the chance to add. Pittsburgh will. And Black could play backup nose tackle and rotate in at defensive end, especially now that he’s in his second season and more comfortable in the league, even if there’s a new playbook to learn. But the Steelers will have to make a choice of where they primarily want to play Black. Nose tackle or end.

That will have an impact on Black’s career arc and how the roster fills in around him for a Steelers defense that must consistently stop the run far better than it has the past two seasons.