Zach Frazier is a part of the Steelers’ younger, new nucleus alongside the offensive line, and they need to nurture that. Since 2022, they’ve invested closely within the group, each within the draft and in free company. They needed to place the exclamation mark on it a 12 months in the past, utilizing three top-four draft picks on linemen.
They began with OT Troy Fautanu within the first spherical, then OC Zach Frazier within the second. In Spherical 4, they went again to the nicely and added OG Mason McCormick. All three are projected to begin, from middle to proper deal with, this season.
To that, you add third-year OT Broderick Jones and the lone outdoors addition, Isaac Seumalo. Significantly with Frazier, Fautanu, and Jones, the Steelers imagine and hope they’ve their offensive line for the lengthy haul. And people linemen need to make it occur, proving the Steelers proper.
“We need to construct that core and we need to maintain that core collectively for so long as we are able to and construct on that,” Zach Frazier mentioned of the Steelers’ younger offensive linemen, by way of Pittsburgh’s DSEN. They have already got the beginning elements collectively, in concept, so now it’s about growing them, individually and as a unit.
Given the youth and inexperience of the group, it’s no shock that there was progress.
“The coaches pulled up some clips from final 12 months,” Frazier mentioned. “It’s cool to see how far we’ve come since that time. You may see loads of enchancment simply from this time final 12 months. We had been rookies, type of didn’t know what we had been doing.”
Frazier admitted that he and his fellow linemen need to cringe watching that tape from final 12 months.
“Yeah, it positively wasn’t fairly at instances,” he mentioned with fun. “However it’s factor we acquired it cleaned up, and I feel we nonetheless have loads of room to wash up much more and maintain enhancing.”
Zach Frazier was arguably the Steelers’ finest offensive lineman final season, ranging from Day 1. Nonetheless, he admits that there’s nonetheless so much for him to work on, and for the group as an entire. It helps, he mentioned, that all of them know their place and their position this offseason, a stark distinction from a 12 months in the past.
Even in Frazier’s case, the Steelers spent the offseason operating with Nate Herbig because the beginning middle. It wasn’t till Herbig suffered a season-ending damage that the rookie stepped into that position. After all, Fautanu missed practically his total rookie season resulting from damage. McCormick was imagined to be a backup your entire season, earlier than they misplaced beginning RG James Daniels.
The Steelers opted to not re-sign Daniels, although, maybe largely resulting from what McCormick confirmed. Not less than he and Zach Frazier had the chance to place in loads of work collectively. Fautanu, although, will primarily be a brand new piece, at the very least on the sphere. And with Broderick Jones lastly at left deal with, they’ve the entire summer season to get it collectively.
