Whether the Pittsburgh Steelers land on Russell Wilson or Justin Fields, C Zach Frazier is easy to please. As a rookie, he worked extensively with both quarterbacks and is comfortable with either one. Even though he was a rookie, he told Missi Matthews for the Steelers’ website that he didn’t even find the transition from one to the other particularly challenging.
Of course, Frazier doesn’t strike me as the type of person who would ever offer a complaint. The Steelers didn’t help their rookie center by shuffling Wilson and Fields. Not that there was necessarily anything wrong with what they did, for obvious reasons.
Fields opened the season starting for the Steelers, with Frazier under center, because Wilson was hurt. Once the Steelers were comfortable with Wilson’s health, they took Fields, their backup, out and inserted their starter. Many people want to make it far more complicated than that, and it’s really not.
However, the Steelers still have a decision to make between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields for 2025. Now, with a full season’s worth of data, they know what they’re getting in both, and so does Zach Frazier. He shared some brief thoughts on the Steelers’ quarterbacks with Matthews.
“I didn’t think it was too difficult playing with both of those guys”, Frazier said via the Steelers’ website. “They’re both great, in my opinion. I thought Justin [Fields] was great early on, the way he stepped in and led us to win a lot of games. And then the way Russell [Wilson] came in and played well. He’s a really great leader, played a lot of football, seen a lot of things, so he has a lot of wisdom”.
Zach Frazier started every game Justin Fields started for the Steelers, but he actually missed Russell Wilson’s first two games. He suffered an ankle injury in Fields’ final start and missed three weeks, including a bye. But he played out the rest of the season with Wilson under center and saw the good times and bad.
There is the possibility that the Steelers end up going with neither Fields nor Wilson. Recently, there has been a lot of chatter about Rams QB Matthew Stafford. The Steelers have reportedly explored the option, but it is impossible to know how seriously to gauge that interest.
There was a funny moment after Frazier’s first start with Russell Wilson in the Steelers’ win over the Commanders. Perhaps against the coaches’ wishes, he revealed that they had no play called on fourth down. They were simply trying to draw Washington offside, successfully, but truly had no play to run.
It’s worth noting that Frazier and Justin Fields struggled with some snap and communication issues in the early portions of the Steelers’ season. While that’s not unexpected for a rookie center, it’s also a pattern for Fields. That will be one of many factors for the Steelers to consider as they plot their course for their quarterback. And listening to their center might not be a bad idea if he offers anything constructive.
