The Pittsburgh Steelers selecting a center was a near-lock during the 2024 NFL Draft. It was more a matter of who they would pick and when rather than if they would take one. It didn’t take too long to get an answer as they picked Zach Frazier from West Virginia in the second round.
The move from West Virginia to Pittsburgh won’t be too big of one for Frazier. It’s also as close to perfect a move as can be in his college coach’s mind. Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown joined the Fan Morning Show on 93.7 The Fan Monday morning, and he talked about the Steelers’ newest center.
“I’ll say this to start,” Brown said during his introduction. “The city of Pittsburgh and Steeler Nation is gonna love Zach Frazier… He is a high-character guy that works extremely hard, and he absolutely loves football. And he doesn’t just love playing the game of football. He loves all the work that goes into it. The weightlifting, the film study. He is a football guy.”
Frazier himself talked about that during his conference call after being selected by Pittsburgh, citing his work ethic as the reason for his success. The drive that Frazier has shown helped him become one of the best centers in this year’s draft despite the lack of elite athleticism.
Perhaps no play showed his character and toughness more than when he broke his leg on the final play of his college career. West Virginia had no timeouts remaining, so Frazier hopped his way off the field on one leg to preserve time for his team despite the injury.
In all, Frazier seems to be everything a Steelers offensive lineman should be: tough, hard-working, and team-first oriented. Brown thinks he’s landed in the right place.
“I don’t think Zach Frazier could have landed in a better spot,” Brown said. “Hour and a half from home. You know, he is gonna have a tremendous following of West Virginia faithful and his hometown people. So I think it’s gonna be a great story.”
