Player: C Zach Frazier
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The rookie center returned to the practice field yesterday, despite no official injury report. Zach Frazier suffered an ankle injury in Week 6 and missed the following two games. Although the line held up without him, he was playing well for the first six weeks and can be a big addition.
The Steelers went out this offseason looking for their next great center, and Zach Frazier may be him. He played well, often very well, through the first six games of the season, logging every snap leading up to his ankle injury. Coming off the bye week, he returned to the practice field on Monday, according to reports.
Frazier himself already said during the bye week that he was aiming to make his return against the Washington Commanders. Of course, he still needs to get through the week before he can return, and setbacks are always possible. We merely know that he was on the practice field, for now. We don’t know how extensively he practiced or how he looked while doing it.
The Steelers have gone with Ryan McCollum in Frazier’s absence, and at a coincidental moment. Because of his injury, Frazier has not yet played with Russell Wilson, now the team’s starting quarterback. But I don’t anticipate as many center-quarterback exchange issues as he had with Justin Fields. That is the difference between a veteran and a young quarterback not fully comfortable playing under center.
Even assuming that Ryan McCollum played sufficiently well, getting Zach Frazier back will have a huge impact on the Steelers’ offensive line depth. Given the injuries they have dealt with going back to training camp, that is not an insignificant factor.
Frazier will, of course, return to the starting lineup, but now the Steelers know they have a quality backup center. And they didn’t have to find out whether Spencer Anderson could handle that role.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
