With the 51st pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected West Virginia C Zach Frazier. And he couldn’t be happier about it. As shot and shared by WVU reporter Anjelica Trinone, here’s the reaction to Frazier hearing his name called by Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth, who announced the selection.
A big group of friends and family were on-hand to celebrate with Frazier, who recovered from a broken leg and rehabbed well throughout the pre-draft process.
It won’t be a far trip from Morgantown to Pittsburgh, allowing Frazier — a West Virginia native — to stay close to him. Frazier is old-school, tough and experienced, checking all the boxes the team was looking for in a center. With a void in the middle, they needed someone ready and able to play right away, and Frazier’s experience will provide that chance.
Despite taking OT Troy Fautanu in the first round, the Steelers still snagged one of the “Big Three” centers and the last one remaining after Graham Barton went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Round One. Jackson Powers-Johnson went to the Las Vegas Raiders earlier in the second round.
With the selection, the Steelers take an offensive lineman with their top two picks in the draft for only the second time in team history, joining David DeCastro and Mike Adams in 2012. Pittsburgh has made a serious investment in their offensive line in the hopes of having one of the league’s best running games while also protecting their new quarterbacks, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, who have been the two most-sacked quarterbacks over the last two seasons.
