Pittsburgh Steelers rookie C Zach Frazier is on track to start the season opener, partly due to injury. While he seemed on course to surpass him already, Nate Herbig is now dealing with a shoulder injury that will likely end his season. That allowed Frazier to start Saturday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, in which he held his own.
The West Virginia product is his own worst critic, never ready with the kind words about his play. Speaking after the game to Chris Adamski, Frazier admitted that he’s “always gonna be hard on myself. Definitely had some plays and some things I need to clean up”.
Even still, Frazier allowed for some positive assessment in the immediate aftermath of his most extensive first-team work. “I think everything went well”, he continued. “The communication was smooth, all the snaps were smooth, C-Q exchanges”.
That would be center-quarterback exchanges, or in other words, the snap under center. A week earlier, Herbig and Justin Fields botched two of them, and the Steelers made that a priority to fix. “Yeah, definitely”, Frazier said when asked if they emphasized that this week. “That’s definitely the goal to be 100 percent”.
A second-round pick, Zach Frazier was the most experienced center coming out of college. That gives him an added advantage now that he is on track to start the season opener for the Steelers. There is still a jump from college to the pros, but he should be more prepared than most.
That is especially true for the center position, which can be more technical and have more responsibilities. Frazier confirmed that he did make all the line calls during the game and assured that he was comfortable doing it. Was that true for Nate Herbig, regardless of how long he’s been in the league? He doesn’t have much outside-of-practice experience playing center, so who knows?
However, a rookie is still a rookie, and Zach Frazier will have his growing pains entering the season. Arguably, he was the least of the Steelers’ problems along the offensive line against the Bills, the most being Broderick Jones, surprisingly enough.
One thing the Steelers have going in their favor for a rookie center is two experienced guards. James Daniels is in his seventh season, and Isaac Seumalo is in his ninth. Both of them have taken Frazier under their wing, the rookie talking about learning from watching Seumalo.
It goes without saying that the Steelers drafted Zach Frazier because they believed that he had the ability to anchor their offensive line for many years. It appears he will have the opportunity early on to show he can handle that job. The Steelers don’t have any other choice, really, even if Frazier will downplay his own performance.
