Pittsburgh Steelers rookie C Zach Frazier stepped foot on an NFL field in a meaningful game for the first time on Sunday. It wasn’t at the friendly confines of Acrisure Stadium, but the Steelers faithful did their best to make it feel like a home game in Atlanta versus the Falcons. Still, there are always first-game jitters. Those may have shown up early with some less-than-clean exchanges with QB Justin Fields.
But those jitters didn’t last long. Frazier proved pretty darn quickly why the Steelers wanted him. He spent more time on Sunday driving Falcons defenders into the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf than looking like a rookie making his first NFL start. And that stuck out to Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth.
“Very impressive,” Freiermuth said of Frazier’s debut on Tuesday’s episode of Chalk Talk on 102.5 WDVE with Gerry Dulac. “I mean, watching his film, he’s pancaking guys left and right. Being a center in the NFL, it’s hard because, and especially in this offense, he’s in charge of declaring the points for the run game and protection and stuff. He’s a really smart player. Shocking, coming from West Virginia. Kidding, kidding, kidding, kidding, kidding. But he’s a really smart play, and he’s a really good offensive lineman.”
Freiermuth is not kidding. Atlanta may be Waffle House territory, but Zach Frazier served pancakes like the stadium was an IHOP. Steeler Depot’s Ross McCorkle dove into the film like Freiermuth did, and the only jitters to be found were Falcons defenders as they were put on the ground.
See for yourself.
Yes, that’s Falcons DL Grady Jarrett lined up over Zach Frazier. And that’s Jarrett sitting down firmly, courtesy of Frazier. Jarrett is a 10-year veteran of the NFL and holds the Falcons record for most quarterback hits in a career. For Frazier to bully him like that is impressive.
And it’s not the only time Frazier dumped Falcons defenders on the day.
You could argue that Frazier dumped not one but two Falcons defenders on this play. He bowled DT Eddie Goldman over and picked up the spare in the form of LB Kaden Elliss.
Repeatedly, Frazier won blocks on Sunday. But he didn’t just win blocks. He finished plays routinely and drove defenders into the ground. That can wear defenders down throughout a game. Freiermuth even noted that he saw the Falcons tiring late in the game.
All in all, it was a fantastic debut for Zach Frazier. He blocked well, made the right calls, and helped wear down the Atlanta defense, thanks to stacks of pancakes. No waffling here on Frazier’s performance.
