On the final day of player interviews with the media, this time focusing on the offensive linemen, many waited with bated breath for West Virginia center Zach Frazier Saturday morning at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.
Frazier, one of the top centers in the 2024 NFL Draft class, was caught up in medical checks at the Combine, leading to him coming out later in the session for his scheduled time. Based on conversations with the doctors, though, and where he’s at in his recovery, Frazier will be ready for Organized Team Activities this offseason after the draft. Wherever he lands, he is eager to show his progress in his recovery from a broken leg suffered late in the 2023 season with the Mountaineers.
“I got an X-ray and an MRI on two different areas, and then one team wanted to see the other. I don’t know,” Frazier said to reporters Saturday morning regarding being caught up in the medical checks. “When one team asks for it, you gotta go get it.”
The injury Frazier is coming off of drew a ton of attention. Hurt in the final game of the season for West Virginia, Frazier famously crawled off the field to avoid the 10-second runoff due to an injury late in the game, saving the Mountaineers time and yardage. That injury occurred in November. Just a few months later, Frazier was spotted at the O-Line Masterminds headquarters in Frisco, Texas, running on a treadmill at full speed in January by NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler, putting Frazier way ahead of his recovery timeline.
Speaking with reporters at the Combine, Frazier said he’s excited to show teams where he’s at in his recovery process and made it clear he’ll be ready to go for OTAs, attempting to alleviate some fears regarding his medical red flag with the broken leg.
“It’s good so far. I feel like I’ve been able to recover pretty fast,” Frazier said of his recovery process. “As far as where I’m at, I can run a 40, I can do shuttle. I’m training for that now. But I’m gonna end up waiting to run those at my Pro Day. But I wanted to show my progress, so I’m gonna do position drills here and bench, just to show where I’m at.”
That competitive spirit, one that West Virginia fans grew to love and admire, showed up Saturday with Frazier. Though he’s not going to run the 40-yard dash or do the Shuttle and 3-cone, he’s going to bench and will do position drills to simply get out there and compete. In more ways than one, that’s showing NFL teams something about the Mountaineers’ star.
While recovering from a rather serious injury, Frazier isn’t too worried about it. That’s shown in his relentless drive to push his recovery faster than anticipated. While he had to get the medical check at the Combine, Frazier added he doesn’t believe it will hurt his draft stock, which has him gaining first-round buzz lately ahead of late April’s draft.
“I don’t think so,” Frazier said when asked if the injury will hurt his draft stock. “Just from the injury standpoint, I was lucky that I just broke the bone. I didn’t do any ligament damage. If I did do ligament damage, maybe that would hurt it. But they, the doctors, just told me that bones heal and I’ll be all right.”
That is certainly good news for Frazier, who entered the 2023 season in the discussion for the best center in the draft class and did nothing to disappoint. The injury might cause some teams to have some caution, but based on where he’s at in his progress, that shouldn’t be the case. A broken leg isn’t as serious or long-term as torn ligaments in the knee, ankle, or elsewhere.
As far as meeting with teams at the Combine goes, Frazier didn’t meet with the Steelers formally and didn’t state otherwise if he had an informal meeting with the Black and Gold. He did meet with the Steelers at the Senior Bowl though, and the Steelers weren’t using formal meetings at the Combine on guys they got to know at the Senior Bowl.
After cutting Mason Cole late last week, center moves to the forefront of the biggest needs the Steelers have. The only true center on the roster currently is Ryan McCollum, who spent all season on the practice squad and was a Reserve/Futures signing in January.
Frazier has been a popular name tied to the Steelers all offseason. He could be a fit in the Black and Gold after a stellar career in West Virginia. We’ll see what the medical check says about the Mountaineers’ star.
