As a player, you never want to step into a starting role due to a teammate’s misfortunate that ends up being a serious injury.
In the case of Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie center Zach Frazier, that’s exactly what’s happening for him as he’s now the starting center with veteran Nate Herbig’s season over due to a serious shoulder injury that landed him on Injured Reserve Tuesday afternoon.
To Zach Frazier’s credit, though, he’s handled the elevated role well. At least, that’s how guard and veteran teammate James Daniels sees it.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday from the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, Daniels praised his rookie center, stating that he has handled a tough situation very well and is always hungry to work, which has helped him get up to speed very quickly for the Steelers.
“I think he’s been doing a good job. I mean, being the center and finding out that you’re gonna start when someone gets hurt in a practice…that’s tough,” Daniels said to reporters, according to video via Steelers.com. “Luckily for him, I feel like he’s been doing a good job, and ever since he got here, like back in May, I feel like he’s been doing a good job, and he’s always been hungry to work.
“So I’m excited to see him develop.”
Daniels is not alone in that regard.
After the Steelers had some issues at center the last two seasons, with veteran Mason Cole struggling to snap the football cleanly and having issues in pass protection, the Steelers drafted Zach Frazier in the second round at No. 51 overall in hopes that he would be the next franchise great center for the Black and Gold.
Landing a player of Frazier’s caliber with the type of experience he brings to the table from the collegiate game — more than 2,600 career snaps at West Virginia — was a home run addition for the Steelers in the trenches as they landed one of the best centers in the class.
So far, Zach Frazier has impressed in his short time with the Steelers, battling hard with Herbig throughout OTAs, minicamp and training camp for the starting job. Unfortunately, he gets the job now due to Herbig’s season-ending injury, but he was going to be the starting center eventually.
Communication will be huge for Frazier in the starting role. He’s already earned some praise in that aspect of his game from guys like quarterback Russell Wilson. It’s not a surprise that Zach Frazier is very good at communicating, considering his experience at the collegiate level.
It’s still great to hear that praise about a key building block moving forward, though. Daniels was the latest to praise him for his communication skills.
“He’s been doing a great job, like verbally. Whenever we’re out there, he’s the leader of the line, and he’s been commanding us, and Saturday he was like telling us what to do, and so I think he’s been doing a good job so far,” Daniels said of Frazier.
So far, Frazier has been good. We’ll see how it translates to the regular season, but he has the belief and respect of his teammates, which is a great start.
