Zach Frazier is part of the Steelers’ young new core along the offensive line, and they want to nurture it. Since 2022, they have invested heavily in the group in both draft and free agency. They wanted to use three top-four draft picks for linemen a year ago to give them an exclamation point.
They started with OT Troy Fautanu in the first round and OC Zach Frazier in the second. In round four, they returned to the well and added OG Mason McCormick. All three are expected to start from center to right tackle this season.
To do this, we’ll add Broderick Jones, The Lone Outside Addition, and Isaac Seumalo, who are in their third year. The Steelers, especially along with Frazier, Fautanu and Jones, believe and hope that they have an offensive line for the long term. And those linemen want to make that happen and prove the Steelers right.
“We want to build that core, we want to keep that core together as much as we can and build on it,” Zach Fraser said of the Steelers’ young offensive lineman. via dsen in Pittsburgh. In theory, they already have the first components together, so now they develop them individually and as units.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rior8fbukcw
Given the group’s youth and lack of experience, it’s not surprising that there have been progress.
“The coach has pulled up some clips since last year,” Fraser said. “It’s cool to see how far we’ve come from that point on. We’ve seen a lot of improvements since this time last year. We were rookies.
Frazier admitted he and his fellow linemen have to cry watching that tape since last year.
“Yeah, it definitely wasn’t pretty at times,” he said with a laugh. “But it’s a good thing we’ve cleaned it up and I think we still have a lot of room to continue cleaning and improving.”
Zach Frasier was undoubtedly the Steelers’ best offensive lineman last season. He said they all knew their location and their role this offseason, which is a stark contrast from a year ago.
Even with Frazier’s case, the Steelers were running alongside Nate Herbig as the starting center during the offseason. It wasn’t until Harbig that the rookie was forced to step into the role that he was injured at the end of the season. Of course, Fautanu almost missed out on the entire rookie season due to injuries. McCormick was supposed to back up the entire season before losing the start of RG James Daniels.
The Steelers have probably chosen not to re-sign Daniels, perhaps because of what McCormick showed. At least he and Zach Frasier had the opportunity to do a lot of work together. But Fautanu will be essentially a new work, at least in the field. And Broderick Jones finally has a left tackle, and they have an entire summer to make it together.
