Just one year ago, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Keeanu Benton was the wide-eyed young player in the trenches for the Black and Gold, one who brought a wrestling background and some brute strength to the table.
A year later as a key piece of the Steelers’ defensive line, Benton has been able to observe rookie center Zach Frazier on the other side of the football.
So far, Benton likes what he’s seen from the West Virginia product.
“Just his comfort, like getting more comfortable with the game and not making the game more complicated than what it actually is,” Benton told Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews regarding what stands out about Frazier, according to video via Steelers.com. “I feel like as a rookie you can come in and your head can just be spinning by learning all the new techniques or new plays, whatever the case may be.
“But I feel like he, towards the middle of camp, he got a grasp on that. And he was able to communicate. He was more confident. You can just tell.”
Benton isn’t the first one to praise Frazier for his ability to communicate and his ability to hit the ground running in his rookie season. He won’t be the last, either.
With the amount of experience Frazier has coming out of WVU, that’s not a surprise. Frazier played more than 2,600 career snaps for the Mountaineers and was a key leader on and off the field. That’s a natural role for him.
Even though he is new to the franchise, that ability to grasp things quickly and communicate properly at the pivot has really been impressive, especially so early in his career. It bodes well for him moving forward, too.
But while he has everything you need between the ears from a football IQ, communication and comfort ability grasping the playbook, the physical element will be the key for Frazier.
Fortunately for him, he has that in abundance, too, which Benton also spoke highly of, particularly his wrestling background. Benton knows all about that, too.
“You can tell he got wrestling in his background. He’s got good feet, good leverage, good hands,” Benton said of Frazier, a guy he matched up with a few times during training camp. “I think he’s a great guy. He’s learning his role for sure and just getting more comfortable with the league.”
That wrestling background and the brute strength that Frazier brings to the table was very intriguing coming out of West Virginia. Power is his calling card, but what’s underrated about Frazier is his athleticism. He wasn’t blowing the doors off of anyone when it comes to his testing numbers, but his functional athleticism has shown up on tape early in his NFL career. That’s especially true in the run game, which has many excited to see what he can do for the Black and Gold as the starting center, especially as he gets more and more comfortable.
