Justin Fields didn’t offer a direct endorsement, but he gave one heck of a campaign speech for Zach Frazier. With Nate Herbig injured, Fields and Frazier worked together throughout chunks of Thursday’s joint practice against the Buffalo Bills. Speaking to reporters after practice, Fields credited Frazier for his tangibles and intangibles.
“Zach’s a hard worker,” Fields said via Steelers.com post-practice. “He’s humble, doesn’t say much, but boy, he works. So, glad to have him on the o-line. He’s a strong, strong boy. He’s smart, too. It’s great to see a rookie that young, that smart, controlling where the protections are going. I’ll flip the protection, and he already had done it before I would. So just seeing that from him, knowing how smart he is, definitely a good thing.”
Herbig suffered what appeared to be an arm or shoulder injury late in Wednesday’s practice, the final session of training camp. That elevated Frazier to first-team center reps for today’s critical practice against Buffalo, a chance for an even more heightened evaluation going against a different team.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin left the door open for Herbig to play but if he can’t, Frazier could run away with the job. His aggressive run blocking fits the Steelers’ ethos, arguably the most run-oriented team in football right now.
Pittsburgh drafted Frazier because of his readiness. The most experienced center in the draft compared to Duke’s Graham Barton and Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, Frazier always had the chance to serve as the Steelers’ Week 1 starter. For the first fortnight of training camp, those odds cooled as Herbig enjoyed a solid camp and ran as first-team center every day. But following two botched exchanges in the preseason opener and Frazier’s strong debut, Herbig might have trouble keeping the starting job.
Even prior to Herbig’s injury, Frazier saw elevated reps. During team periods, he would sub in for the final rep with the 1s, Herbig either taken out of the rep or shifting over to right guard. If Frazier can avoid the mistakes that plagued the Steelers in Saturday’s preseason game against the Bills, he could cement himself as the Week 1 starter. That comes against an upgraded Atlanta Falcons defense that’s added Pro Bowl S Justin Simmons and DE/EDGE Matthew Judon over the last 24 hours against a Steelers offensive line that could start a pair of rookies in Frazier and RT Troy Fautanu.
