Iowa football’s Yahya Black among CBS Sports’ most underrated NFL prospects in college football

The depth and experience that the Iowa Hawkeyes have is second to none. They are always deep and always have a heavy presence of juniors and seniors.

Yahya Black, the 317-pound senior defensive tackle, hailing from Marshall High School in Marshall, Minnesota, is one of those veteran talents. On a defense as talented as Iowa’s, he is overlooked despite shining on many defenses across the country.

Despite all of that, he still finds himself among CBS Sports’ most underrated 2024  college football NFL draft prospects.

Yahya Black , DL, Iowa

Yahya may not blow you away with gaudy numbers, but when you watch him play, he stands out because he makes everyone else’s job easy. He does a great job preventing linemen from getting to the second level, and his hands might be the strongest among any interior lineman in college football. – McFadden & Zenitz, CBS Sports

Selected to the preseason Second-Team All-Big Ten by Athlon, Black is ready to have a breakout year after flashing during his limited time in previous seasons.

Yahya Black is entering his fifth year with the program. He has appeared in 40 games with 14 starts to his name, all coming in 2023-24. He has totaled 83 career tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and used his 6-foot-5 frame to bat down 9 passes.

Last season was his coming out party for Hawkeye fans as he had his best year yet with 51 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks in 2023-24.

Black is the first man up on the Hawkeyes’ preseason depth chart at right defensive tackle and figures to be a mainstay there for the season with his chance to stamp himself onto NFL teams’ draft boards.

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