2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: West Virginia C Zach Frazier

From now until the 2024 NFL Draft, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, I’ll be profiling West Virginia C Zach Frazier.

#54 Zach Frazier/OC West Virginia – 6025, 310 lbs. (Senior)

MEASUREMENTS

The Good

– Strong upper body, tough and physical
– Sticks in running game, able to match interior plugging defensive tackles, steers and controls players as run blocker
– Impactful punch and strong hands able to knock down pass rushers
– Runs his feet in run game and looks to finish his blocks
– Good zone blocker who is able to wash linemen down the line
– Plays with balance and coordination in run game, stays on his feet
– Shows proper base and leverage in pass protection, allowing him to anchor against bull rushes
– Grip strength to stick and latch onto blocks at first and second level
– Consistent player who rarely looks bad
– Works hard to recover when beat
– Quality starting experience
– Guard/center versatility
– Regarded as incredibly hard worker with humble personality

The Bad

– Lacks ideal length
– Prone to catching rushes in pass protection, not creating good first contact and getting pushed back too much on bull rushes
– Average athleticism, adequate snap out of his stance but doesn’t pop on tape
– Can struggle to reach the three-tech on zone blocks and will miss target in space on screens
– Could be quicker in recognizing and picking up stunts, lacks elite lateral movement to adjust
– Bit stiff and rigid mover, not a fluid athlete

Bio

– 46 career starts for the Mountaineers (37 at center, nine at left guard)
– Left-handed snapper
– 2023 first-team All-Big 12
– Started nine games at left guard in 2020 before moving to center full-time (played one game at center as a freshman)
– Suffered serious leg injury in final game of college career
– Primarily played guard in high school
– Two-time winner of school’s offseason strength & conditioning award
– Three-star recruit from Fairmont, West Virginia, chose WVU over Stanford, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest among others
– 3.88 GPA in Sport Management, had a 4.0 GPA throughout high school, was finalist for 2023 William Campbell Award (Academic Heisman) won by Oregon QB Bo Nix
– Four-time heavyweight wrestling state champ in high school, career record of 159-2 (one loss due to an illegal move when he was leading 8-0)
– As a junior, 34 of 38 matches ended in a first-period pin with the average match lasting only 51 seconds
– Father played center at Fairmont State
– Mother’s side featured four Fairmont State wrestling champs
– Regards football as his favorite sport; wrestled just so he could become a better football player
– Married in 2023

Tape Breakdown

If you’re looking for physical, nasty, and old-school, Zach Frazier is your kind of guy. West Virginia born and raised, he stayed local despite ample opportunity to leave the state. And he became one of the best offensive linemen in Mountaineers’ history.

Frazier might not be the biggest guy but he’s an impactful and steady run blocker. He plays with proper pad level and leverage, drives his feet, and shows torque on contact when he’s able to be the aggressor and make first contact. Frazier’s coordinated and balanced and rarely on the ground, able to wash, steer, and drive defenders in the run game. It might not be overwhelming but it’s effective.

Check out the last clip. That’s Frazier working on Baylor NT Siaka Ika, a top-100 pick from a year ago. He is the center in all the below clips.

In pass pro, his punch is just as heavy and can send defenders to the ground.

He’s experienced and durable, starting every year for West Virginia. While he grew up playing guard, center will be his NFL home given his lack of ideal size and length to play guard. Highly decorated, his wrestling background certainly translates on tape and he’s one of best – if not the best – wrestlers in state history. Read anything on his background and you’ll come across the story of someone who is hard-working, humble, smart, and high character.

The negatives on tape weren’t incredibly obvious. While there’s no official weigh-in yet, Frazier seems to have average-to-below-average length, and it forces him to catch too often in pass protection. While he’s strong, he can still have trouble hanging on and can be prone to getting walked backward. Little hard to see here but the three-tech gives him some trouble on this rush.

Zach Frazier’s athleticism isn’t a liability but isn’t a major strength either. Both playing in space in the screen game and sliding laterally in pass protection against quicker defensive tackles can give him trouble. I’d also like to see him be quicker in picking up stunts and blitzes; his lack of high-level movement can make it tough for him to recover.

Conclusion

Overall, Frazier is a solid player with a well-rounded game. His floor is high, and in a man/inside zone scheme, he should thrive. While he lacks the physical traits to potentially be a high-end center — he doesn’t have the athleticism of a Creed Humphrey — Frazier is a strong prospect. It’d be great to see him become the next Nick Mangold, but my NFL comp will settle on Ben Jones, a tough and rock-solid dude in the middle but never an All-Star.

Projection: Late Day Two
Depot Draft Grade: 8.1MED – Future Quality Starter (2nd Round)
Games Watched: at Texas (2022), vs Baylor (2022), at Penn State (2023), vs Oklahoma State (2023)