As the Pittsburgh Steelers understood more than most teams this draft cycle, sports can never fully escape reality. The 2024 NFL Draft class very much felt the marks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The global phenomenon wreaked havoc with college football games, along with just about everything else, resulting in lost seasons and expanded eligibility.
The end result is a draft class full of experienced, older players who logged a lot of snaps playing football. That includes their trio of offensive line selections from Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier to Mason McCormick. All of them lean on that wisdom and experience as a benefit as they embark on their NFL journey.
“I think the more football you play, the better,” McCormick told reporters on Friday via Aaron Becker. “The more snaps you have, the more experienced you are, the more stuff you see…obviously, college is a lot different than the NFL, but I think it helps.”
McCormick played his first snaps at South Dakota State all the way back in 2018, and his last in 2023. That’s six years, for those who struggle with math, and they account for 3,411 snaps’ worth of experience. The Steelers’ fourth-round pick turns 24 later this month.
Very uncharacteristic for Steelers teams of the recent past, they also drafted a soon-to-be 24-year-old in the first round. Fautanu’s birthday is in October, though in his case, he only played four years of college ball. He redshirted in 2019, however, with 2020 ravaged by COVID-19. In all, he played 2,155 college snaps, including nearly 1,000 in 2023, which took him all the way to the national title game.
“Nothing beats experience, [especially] experience in those big games,” Fautanu said via the Steelers’ website. “And that’s the goal, to bring another one here. That’s where our energy is put. Every day we walk upstairs to the o-line room, we see those six trophies. Growing up especially, watching some of those, you want to go back again.”
Comparatively, the Steelers’ second-round pick, C Zach Frazier, is the young pup of the group. He turns 23 in August, but he logged a ton of playing time. Starting as a true freshman in 2020 due to injury, he logged 3,212 career snaps—one of a relative few who didn’t have his 2020 season waylaid by the pandemic.
But while he may be roughly of average age for rookie draft picks, he seems mature beyond his years. The whole class strikes that tone, like ILB Payton Wilson, who is already 24. Sixth-round DE Logan Lee also turns 24 in June.
“I think the rookies that we have, we all have good heads on our shoulders and we’re all gonna work as hard as we can,” Frazier said about his fellow rookie draft class for the Steelers, already bonding together and ready to learn from the veterans. “It’s our goal to earn their respect.”
