PITTSBURGH —The third week of Pittsburgh Steelers OTAs at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex was missing most of the team's most-well-known players.
That was largely by design. The Steelers switched up their schedule this year under Mike McCarthy , putting the mandatory minicamp in between the first two weeks of voluntary OTAs and the final one.
The implication was clear. With almost a completely new coaching staff, it was important for the Steelers to get their veteran players together at voluntary OTAs. Veteran players aren't likely to show up for all 10. And it doesn't do much good for the Steelers if say, Aaron Rodgers comes one week, and then Michael Pittman comes the next. It's important for those players to not just come and get instruction from the new coaching staff, but also to do it together, to build chemistry and cohesiveness.
So the plan was for the first to weeks to be a fairly representative squad, have everyone in town for minicamp, and then the third week to largely be a showcase and opportunity for the team's younger players.
I'd known that was the plan, but it was still a bit jarring to see the Steelers' first-team offense take the field, with the most-veteran player on the unit being third-year center Zach Frazier.
Certainly, the Steelers have plenty of veteran presences on their offense. Rodgers, chiefly. But Pittman, DK Metcalf , Pat Freiermuth and Rico Dowdle are all also long-tenured NFL players with a variety of experience.
But it's not that hard to see what's happening when it comes to the future of the Pittsburgh offense. This is a team that is going to be led by its offensive line, and while there are certainly several candidates to become one of the team's leaders from the offensive line, the center position has some leadership qualities built into it.
Frazier is the one that is responsible for getting the checks right and making sure everyone is on the same page about what adjustments they're making at the line of scrimmage. Last year, he was correcting Rodgers on those things while the veteran was getting used to the Steelers offense, so it's clear he doesn't have a problem speaking up.
When the Steelers were a dominant offense in the latter part of the 2010s, Ben Roethlisberger , Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown were the stars, but guys like David DeCastro , Maurkice Pouncey , Alejandro Villanueva and Ramon Foster were the leaders.
Frazier isn't necessarily the most naturally outgoing guy. But he was a leader at West Virginia , and you can see him developing into the same thing here in Pittsburgh.
" I think going into my third year, I feel comfortable," Frazier said to Steelers Now. "I feel confident in my play style, so yeah, definitely."
Like I said, not necessarily the world's biggest ra-ra talker. But watching practice this week, especially without the vets around, it was pretty clear that Frazier was the guy that was making things happen for the Steelers offense.
That's a pretty good sign for the future direction of the unit.
Pittsburgh Steelers center Zach Frazier during a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Aug. 16, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Acquired :The Steelers drafted Frazier with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Frazier was the first Mountaineer to be drafted by the Steelers since the team selected Woodland Hills alum Ryan Mundy in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
Last year:Frazier entered 2025 as an established starter, starting all 17 games for the first time in his career and setting a career high with 1,026 snaps played.
He allowed 11 total pressures and one sack in 673 pass-block reps, for a 99.1% pass-rush efficiency, per PFF, which ranked him second in the NFL among centers, behind only Creed Humphrey of the Kansas City Chiefs .
Pro career:Frazier entered the NFL in competition with Nate Herbig for the Steelers' starting center job during his first training camp. After Herbig suffered a season-ending injury late in camp, Frazier took the starting job and made his pro debut as a Week 1 starter.
Frazier missed two weeks a rookie with an ankle injury, finishing the year with 15 regular-season starts, as well as his first postseason experience in a playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens . Frazier was selected to the PFWA All-Rookie Team and earned the Joe Greene Great Performance Award as the Steelers' rookie of the year.
Pittsburgh Steelers center Zach Frazier and quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a game against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 28, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
| Year |
Team |
GP |
GS |
Pos |
Snaps |
Sack |
Pen |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 |
PIT |
17 |
17 |
C |
1026 |
1 |
4 |
73.8 |
| 2024 |
PIT |
15 |
15 |
C |
976 |
1 |
5 |
77.9 |
Zach Frazier, West Virginia Athletics
Frazier, a West Virginia native, played his collegiate ball for the Mountaineers. He arrived on campus in 2020 which was the COVID-shortened season. Frazier started nine of his 10 appearances at left guard as a true freshman. He was the first true freshman to start on the Mountaineers offensive line since 1980.
In the offseason, Frazier switched his position to center and went onto start all 13 games as a sophomore. In 895 offensive snaps, Frazier allowed just one sack. After his breakout season, Frazier earned All-American honors by multiple outlets.
In 2022, Frazier stayed consistent as he started all 12 of the team's games at center. Allowing just three sacks, Frazier went 10 games without allowing one and ended the season with his highest PFF grade of his collegiate career. Additionally, Frazier received All-Big 12 nominations for the second consecutive season.
Additionally in 2022, Frazier led an offensive line that led Power 5 schools in rushing with 2,976 yards. The Mountaineers also had 32 rushing touchdowns which was tied for eleventh nationally. West Virginia was the only Big 12 school to finish with more than 2,000 rushing yards in conference games in 2022.
In 2023, Frazier played at an extremely high level for the Mountaineers. In 12 starts, Frazier played 806 offensive snaps and did not allow a single sack. In their opening game against Pitt, Frazier was credited with a season-high 14 knockdowns.
Following the season, the committees named Frazier to the watchlist of many awards including being a William V. Campbell Trophy Finalist, a Wuerffel Trophy Semifinalist and a Jason Witten Man of the Year Semifinalist. Additionally, he earned All-American honors for the second time of collegiate career.
In total, Frazier started 46 of his 47 appearances for the Mountaineers. In his four years on campus, Frazier played over 3,200 offensive snaps and allowed just four sacks. He was a two-time All-American and three-time team captain.
Due to his success, Frazier earned invites to the Reese's Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine, though a broken leg in his final collegiate game did not allow him to participate.
West Virginia center Zach Frazier warms up before a game against Oklahoma State at Milan Puskar Stadium on Oct. 23, 2023. — Kelsie LeRose / WVSN
| Year |
College |
GP |
GS |
Pos |
Snaps |
Sack |
PEN |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 |
West Virginia |
12 |
12 |
C |
806 |
0 |
4 |
77.1 |
| 2022 |
West Virginia |
12 |
12 |
C |
883 |
3 |
6 |
80.8 |
| 2021 |
West Virginia |
12 |
13 |
C |
895 |
1 |
4 |
77.5 |
| 2020 |
West Virginia |
13 |
9 |
LG |
630 |
0 |
3 |
63.3 |
Measured at the Big 12 pro day: 6-foot-2 1/2, 315 pounds; 5.26-second 40-yard dash, 3.00-second 20-yard split, 1.81-second 10-yard split; 4.69-second shuttle, 7.85-second three-cone drill; 28.5-inch vertical, 8-foot-4 broad jump.
Frazier had a 7.27 Relative Athletic Score
out of 10.
Frazier is entering the third season of his four-year rookie contract. He is set to earn $1,480,838 in salary this year. Frazier is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2028, and will be a candidate for a contract extension next offseason.
Frazier was a four-time West Virginia state heavyweight wrestling champion in addition to playing football at Fairmont (W.Va.) Senior High School. … He committed to West Virginia over offers from Louisville, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, among others.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Zach Frazier Becoming Leader of Steelers Offense
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