It wouldn’t have taken much more than a simple Google search at the time he was drafted for Zach Frazier to figure out he had a solid chance at becoming the Week 1 starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The majority of mock drafts had the Steelers addressing center in the first round and general manager Omar Khan even declared they were searching for the “next great Steelers center.”
There is an increased level of pressure on early-round draft picks to contribute right away. As it stands right now, Frazier seems like he has the best chance out of the draft picks to live up to those early expectations and become the Week 1 starter.
Herbig was injured on the final day of practice at Saint Vincent College, which allowed Frazier to get more work with the first-team offense during Thursday’s joint practice with the Buffalo Bills.
“It was nice to be out there and nice to get all those reps,” Frazier said in a video posted on the Steelers’ website. “Just trying to take advantage of that opportunity.”
He had a strong performance in the preseason opener last Friday and now appears to be in line to start in the second preseason game if Herbig can’t play. If that is the case, this might be Frazier’s opportunity to take control of the starting job. Tomlin mentioned after the first preseason game that Frazier would be getting an increased workload. So even before Herbig’s injury, Frazier was starting to ascend in the pecking order.
Rookie minicamp, OTAs and mandatory minicamp served as a solid acclimation period, but the real work doesn’t start for offensive linemen until the pads came on. That is a lot of learning to fit into the last two weeks, but Frazier feels good about his overall progression. He was asked where he felt like he’s grown the most.
“Just overall understanding and overall being comfortable on the field,” Frazier said. “The play call, making the calls, really everywhere. Every area of my game I feel a lot better than where I started.”
Outside of one drive with Justin Fields, Frazier put in most of his work in the first preseason game with QB Kyle Allen. Allen had a lot of great things to say about Frazier after that game, including calling him wise beyond his years. The more confidence that he can instill in his quarterbacks and the coaching staff, the better chance he has of starting. It seems like that process is going exceedingly well with just a few weeks until the start of the season.
