Northern Iowa DT Khristian Boyd Visits Steelers on Thursday

The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to fix their defensive, and one of the players they will host for a pre-draft visit could be the solution. Northern Iowa defensive tackle Khristian Boyd will be a sleeper pick on the defensive line, and he is coming to Pittsburgh for one of their 30 in-person pre-draft visits.

Boyd is in Pittsburgh for a visit on Thursday. And at Cooper DeJean’s pro day, Boyd did his own testing. According to Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy, he put up 38 reps on the bench, while coming in at 6-foot-2, 325 pounds.

N. Iowa DT Kristian Boyd Pro-Day

HT: 6025
WT: 325
HAND: 9 1/2
ARM: 31 5/8
WING: 77 1/8
40-YD: no run (by choice)
SS: 4.91
3C: 8.10
VJ: 28.5
BJ: 8'2"

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) April 8, 2024

The Steelers first got a good look at Boyd at the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl, where he impressed many scouts who were getting their first look at him against higher-level competition.

Shrine Bowl Takeaways: Steelers OL Targets Emerge, DL Impresses

“(Scouts) love my get off, my power that I play with, my leverage, my hands and of course my strength,” Boyd said to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “Then they said I could definitely improve on my pass rushing. They think I’m very versatile, too.

“I wanted to show that when I went to the Shrine and Hula Bowl and I feel like I did that. I’ve heard from a lot of teams (that) I’ve got a draftable grade.”

At the Shrine Bowl, Boyd measured in at 6-foot-2, 320 pounds. That could make him a candidate to play nose tackle for the Steelers, who used the 6-foot-4, 309-pound Keeanu Benton and the 6-foot-4, 302-pound Montravius Adams at that spot in 2023.

Boyd was not invited to the 2024 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, so his UNI pro day on Monday was supposed to be his last big chance to make an impact on NFL teams. Instead, a hamstring injury during training limited him.

That has teams lined up to get one last look at Boyd before the 2024 NFL Draft, and the Steelers are one of 15 teams showing more interest in the FCS defensive lineman by scheduling a pre-draft visit with him.

Boyd’s stock has steadily been on the rise, and it is not surprising to see him on the Steelers’ radar. He was dominant at the Shrine Bowl. He’s got a thick lower half with a nice first step and a signature push-pull-swim move that he wrecks people with as a pass rusher. He might be a bit of a tweener, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone if he’s the first non-combine player to be selected on draft weekend.