Since I received Iowa football’s spring practice depth chart from UI Athletics five months ago, the presence of Yahya Black’s name in the Hawkeyes’ starting lineup has continued to surprise me.

Hawkeye head coach Kirk Ferentz typically isn’t even apt to play redshirt or true freshmen, much less insert them into his starting lineup. In Iowa’s last 12-game, pre-pandemic season in 2019, Ferentz played just eight true freshmen. In 2020, he did the same.

So, when Yahya Black was penciled into a starting role on Iowa’s defensive line — per all three depth charts Iowa has released from March to August — I wondered what he had done in the offseason to impress his coaches and earn a spot in the starting lineup.

Then, I attended Iowa Football Media Day in August. When we broke out for one-on-one interviews with players and coaches and I saw Black for the first time, I understood why he’s the only freshman in the Hawkeyes’ starting lineup.

Black towered over my 5-foot-8 frame, standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing in at 287 pounds. Black doesn’t look like a freshman, nor does he play like one, according to his teammates.

“Yahya, obviously, is a freak,” junior center Tyler Linderbaum said Aug. 13. “I mean look at him. His arm is longer than both of mine. He’s done a great job. Obviously, he’s still young. So, [Black has] a lot of learning to do.”

Black receiving high praise from Linderbaum isn’t just meaningless teammate-to-teammate back-patting. Linderbaum is a competitor on game days and at practice. So, when he acknowledges a defender’s talent, that’s profound.

I haven’t seen much of Black on the field that would suggest he’ll find success on Saturdays this fall. But it would seem that his teammates and coaches have found reason to believe that he’ll be an impactful player in 2021-22, and that makes me think he’s bound to have a breakout season.