Player: C Zach Frazier
Stock Value: Purchased
Reasoning: The Pittsburgh Steelers used their second-round draft pick on C Zach Frazier out of West Virginia. The third of three Tier-1 centers, Frazier lasted until the 51st-overall pick in the second round. The Steelers likely entertained the notion of trading up for him but managed to land their center without unnecessary investment.
Earlier this offseason, general manager Omar Khan said that they owed it to themselves to find the “next great Steelers center”. Either they didn’t see that player in free agency, or they weren’t willing to pay the price. But they believe they’ve found a worthy candidate in second-round draft pick Zach Frazier.
Perhaps the Steelers would have drafted Graham Barton in the first round if Troy Fautanu hadn’t fallen to them. We’ll probably never know for sure unless we get a look at their draft board. We know they valued Fautanu more, of course, because they drafted him instead of Barton.
And Jackson Powers-Johnson also went off the board before Zach Frazier as well, though the Raiders drafted Powers-Johnson at guard. Frazier is the purest center of the top wave of the position in this class, the cleanest, easiest, most unambiguous projection.
Frazier’s not going to mistake anybody for the fleet-of-foot centers like Dermontti Dawson and Maurkice Pouncey. However, he knows how to move a man where he doesn’t want to be moved, and that’s what his job is.
He’s taking over the job held by Mason Cole, whom the Steelers released after two seasons. Going into Year 4 of trying to find Pouncey’s replacement, they hope Frazier is finally it. And right now, I’m not sure if they don’t just plug him in immediately.
The Steelers touted their in-house center options, highlighted by Nate Herbig, who has like 50 center snaps. They also acknowledged the position flexibility of players like James Daniels, and presumably others like Spencer Anderson.
Now they can stop the charade and just play Zach Frazier. Hey, they did it with Kendrick Green in 2021, and that worked out…well, they just drafted another Day-2 center. The only difference is that this one is actually a center with the size to play the position.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
