Dominic Black

Physical Profile

Listed at 6-4, 285 lbs. Taller than 46% and heavier than 38% of 2027 Interior Offensive Line prospects in the SEC Scouts database (26 with a listed size).

Play Style

Black plays with the movement skills of a basketball player in an offensive lineman's body. He can reach and cut off defenders in the run game, climb to the second level and stay balanced in space. Having played defensive line, he understands how rushers set up blockers. That fits a zone-heavy run scheme where linemen move laterally and block linebackers downfield. As with most small-school linemen, his film is less informative when he is overpowering smaller opponents, so how his anchor and hand technique hold up against stronger players is still an open question.

Strengths

• Athleticism for his size: a 290-pound basketball player and shot putter should have the change-of-direction and short-area quickness teams want in a pass-blocking tackle and a guard who pulls
• Experience: he has started four years and made first-team All-WOAC twice, playing right tackle on offense
• Two-way experience: as a junior defensive lineman he had 35 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack in 11 games, so he knows how defensive linemen attack blockers
• Can play several spots: evaluators split between tackle and guard, which gives Kentucky's staff, led by OL coach Cutter Leftwich, room to find his best position
• Heavily recruited: nearly 40 offers, and he picked Kentucky over Tennessee, Indiana, Virginia Tech and Michigan State

Areas to Improve

• Level of competition: Tri-Village is a small school in western Ohio, so his technique has rarely been tested by Power 4-caliber pass rushers. His hand placement, punch timing and pass sets against speed off the edge will need refining
• Strength training: coming from a small program playing three sports, he probably has not had a full college-style strength program yet. Adding functional strength while keeping his movement skills is the main task for his first two years
• Settling on one position: the tackle-or-guard question needs an answer, and until it is settled his reps may be split and his development slower

College Projection

He should redshirt or play limited snaps in 2027 while building strength. He becomes a real candidate for the two-deep in 2028 and projects as a starter around 2029, most likely at guard or right tackle depending on his arm length. His best outcome is a multi-year SEC starter who can play several line positions.

NFL Outlook

As a top-200 four-star lineman who is athletic, with positional flexibility and an NFL-type frame, Black has a realistic path to Day 3 draft consideration if he becomes a multi-year SEC starter. Linemen who can play both tackle and guard have extra value in the draft. His ceiling depends mainly on strength development and on whether his length holds up at tackle.

Best Fit

A zone-based run scheme that uses athletic linemen and asks them to move: reach blocks, pulls and blocks on linebackers. It should also have the patience and strength program to develop a small-school prospect over two years. Kentucky, which has a record of developing linemen and now has three Ohio offensive linemen in its 2027 class, fits that profile.