Mel Kiper: Zach Frazier Expected to go Top 50 in NFL Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers need a center, and someone on their radar is West Virginia’s Zach Frazier. Coming off another strong season with West Virginia, Frazier’s stock went through the roof before he broke his leg against Baylor, raising some medical questions. And now that it is late, medical re-checks are finished, and teams look closer at all prospects. Matt Miller released his top rankings in the class, has Frazier as the 29th overall player, 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.

Mel Kiper, who had previously been on the train that thought Frazier could fall, still believes that Frazier will not make it to the Steelers second round pick.

“Frazier is my second-ranked center, and I expect him to be picked in the top 50,” Kiper said.

The Steelers sent assistant offensive line coach Isaac Williams to Frisco, Texas to watch Frazier work out. They also interviewed him at the 2024 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., which he attended but did not participate in, due to his injury.

The 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 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.”

The Steelers have an incredible history at the center position with past legends Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson and Maurkice Pouncey. Webster and Dawson are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Pouncey very well could be in Canton someday.

And Frazier, if Miller’s comparison, which is Creed Humphrey, could continue that tradition for the Steelers. 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.