Brian Baldinger Raves About Key Trait That Zach Frazier Possesses
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a significant need at center after releasing 2023 starter Mason Cole. The club has been connected to most of the top center prospects in the first three rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft, but have been more closely tied to West Virginia center Zach Frazier than almost anyone else.
Offensive line trainer Duke Manyweather thinks Frazier would be a perfect fit with the Steelers. In fact, he thinks he has Steelers written all over him.
“This is a very strong center group,” Manyweather told Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the Chipped Ham and Football podcast. “Zach Frazier’s got Steelers written all over him. … Kind of reminds me of a Mike Webster type.”
NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger is also bullish on Frazier as a center prospect. He thinks his violent hands will serve him well at the next level.
“Watch Zach Frazier. You don’t have to go too long without watching him just crush somebody. I like violent hands. That’s what violent hands look like,” Baldinger said in a video breakdown posted on his X account. “Like, they start crawling on the ground, trying to get back up. Gimme a center with some violent hands. Zach Frazier, state wrestling champion. Like, you gotta get excited watching Zach Frazier play football. I know I do.”
.@WVUfootball @zfrazier54 I like my centers with Violent Hands. Love the “Backyard Brawl” #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/WJzBw7Q80e
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) April 17, 2024
Frazier is expected to be drafted within the first two rounds, and that expectation gained even more steam based on his measurements and workout at the NFL Combine. Despite not even testing, he helped himself out, checking in at 6-foot-2 1/2 and 313 pounds with 32 1/4-inch arms and 10 7/8-inch hands. He has a 7.66 Relative Athletic Score out of 10.
Matt Miller of ESPN has Frazier as the 29th overall player in this year’s draft, and thinks there could be a first-round buzz.
“Frazier was a four-time West Virginia state champion wrestler in high school, and that level of agility, toughness and strength is exactly what you want in a center prospect. Coming from a wide-zone scheme, he’s ideal for the modern NFL — and if teams are comfortable with his recovery from a leg injury that ended his 2023 season early, expect late-Round 1 talk,” Miller wrote.
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