Zach Frazier is near the end of his rookie season, already earning the Steelers’ rookie of the year honors. That’s no surprise to Nate Herbig, who long ago expected great things of him. Not just for this season, but for many more to come. He talked about when he realized how good Frazier is and can be yesterday. And it started with a challenge he issued in practice.
“You’re so strong and do all this and that, but you don’t finish anybody”, Herbig said he told Frazier, via Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I was just joking around with him. Well, that day I’m standing there and watching him, and he was just killing people all practice. I knew then he was going to be special”.
The Steelers selected Zach Frazier in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. While they didn’t immediately hand him the starting job, Herbig running with the first-team offense for most of the offseason, it always seemed to be the intention to get him there by the opener. Herbig’s injury left no doubt that would happen, but Frazier more than proved himself once on the field.
Were it not for an ankle injury that robbed him of two games, Zach Frazier would have been an every-snap player for the Steelers as a rookie. As it is, he should finish the regular season approaching 1,000 snaps. While you won’t see many offensive line “statistics”, he has certainly passed the eye test. But he has always looked good to the eye, Herbig says.
“He came out the first day, and I knew he was a good player”, he said of Frazier. “He was strong, had that wrestling background, and you could see he was super talented. As much as we were competing, I wanted the best for him. I wanted him to accomplish his dreams, as well, and make his family proud”.
The road hasn’t been perfectly smooth, of course. Especially with Justin Fields at quarterback, the Steelers dealt with some center-quarterback exchange issues with Zach Frazier. He did have a couple of games here and there in which he struggled in one aspect or another.
It’s fair to say the Steelers’ run blocking has been disappointing, given how much emphasis they hoped to put on the run game this year. While they have rushed for over 2,000 yards, it hasn’t been the most efficient 2,000 in history. But that’s a collective issue, and you can see the talent Frazier has flashed often.
And the hope and expectation is that Frazier will be even better next year. For one thing, he will have not just a full offseason, but a full offseason as a starter. And he will also have a full season’s worth of experience to draw from, both mentally and physically. Not to mention the chemistry being forged with fellow rookie RG Mason McCormick. Another stud, perhaps? But that’s a story for another day.
