Steelers’ Yahya Black May Hold The Secret To Unlocking Keeanu Benton

The Pittsburgh Steelers may have spent the last few seasons asking the wrong question about Keeanu Benton. Instead of wondering whether he can become the nose tackle Pittsburgh wants, the better answer may be sitting a few lockers away. Yahya Black is beginning to look like the natural anchor in the middle, which could finally let Benton spend more time doing what he does best: attacking quarterbacks.

Black is listed at 6-foot-5 and 336 pounds. Benton checks in at 6-foot-4 and 309. Weight alone does not make a nose tackle, but 27 extra pounds help when the job description includes standing in front of double teams and refusing to relocate.

Black also has the style to match the frame. Pittsburgh saw him survive all 17 games as a rookie, and his value often came from occupying blockers rather than filling the stat sheet. The Steelers need him to make the middle of the line feel like a bad place for running backs to visit.

Benton has always looked different. His quick feet and first step helped him produce 5.5 sacks in 2025. The more freedom he gets to attack a gap, the more dangerous he becomes. Asking him to sit directly over the center and absorb double teams can turn one of his best traits into expensive decoration.

Jim Wexell raised that concern during a recent Steelers discussion. Wexell believes Benton is better suited as a 4i or 3-technique, where he can align away from the center and use his quickness more aggressively.

“I think Keeanu Benton’s more about a 4i, a 3-tech, you know, more of a Cam Heyward. I’m no expert, but I have a lot of people agree with me on the site that he’s just not the nose tackle.”

That distinction could reshape how Patrick Graham builds the front. A true nose tackle does not have to win with penetration. Sometimes the victory is taking two blockers for a short walk while the linebackers run free. Benton can do that job, but Pittsburgh may be wasting his best tools by making it the primary assignment.

Black gives Graham another option. His size makes him harder to displace, and defensive line coach Domata Peko has already set a high bar for Black’s nose-tackle ceiling. Peko spent 15 NFL seasons doing the dirty work in the middle, so his interest in Black means more than somebody pointing at 336 pounds and saying, “Well, that looks about right.”

The Steelers can then use Benton as a moving piece. He can shade a guard, attack from a 3-technique alignment and join four-man fronts where his first step has a better chance to affect the quarterback.

That possibility becomes more interesting beside Cameron Heyward and Derrick Harmon. Pittsburgh has several interior defenders capable of creating pressure, but Black may be best equipped to handle the unglamorous work that lets everyone else hunt.

Wexell sees the second-year lineman moving toward that role and believes it could solve one of Pittsburgh’s longest-running front-seven questions.

“Yahya Black’s moving up. He is. He’s a massive dude,” Wexell said. “Keeanu Benton is a pass-rushing nose tackle. Hey, great. That’s great. That’s going to get him money… But man, if you can’t stop third-and-one… if you could get a fifth-round pick to be that guy, a part-time job, that’s the answer right there.”

Black does not have to become an every-down star. A part-time nose tackle who controls short-yardage situations and early downs can have enormous value if his presence allows Benton to move into better alignments. Pittsburgh would essentially be using one fifth-round pick to improve two players at once.

The arrangement could also help Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson. Both are at their best when they can run downhill instead of wrestling with guards who reached the second level untouched.

Steelers Can Stop Trying To Make Benton Something That He Is Not

There is no shame in Benton not fitting the traditional nose-tackle mold. Pittsburgh drafted him because he was unusually athletic for an interior defender, and his 2025 sack production showed what happens when that athleticism reaches the pocket. The mistake would be insisting he prove himself in a role that does not maximize it.

Graham’s defense should make the transition easier because the front does not have to live in one alignment. Black can handle more of the true nose work, Benton can slide around, and Heyward or Harmon can join him in passing situations.

Black still has work to do. His height can work against him if his pad level rises, and being the biggest person in the pile does not automatically mean he wins it. He must keep improving his hand placement, leverage and ability to survive double teams.

Benton has his own responsibility. Moving away from nose tackle cannot become an excuse for inconsistent run defense. A 3-technique still has to hold his gap, finish tackles and prevent offenses from running directly at the lighter front.

The Steelers no longer appear forced to choose between those needs. Black can provide the mass. Benton can provide the twitch. It is a cleaner division of labor than asking one player to be both.

The answer may not require Benton becoming Pittsburgh’s next dependable anchor. If Black keeps climbing, the Steelers can the doorway and finally give Benton room to run through it.

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