As center Nate Herbig was sidelined due to injury on Thursday, Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 second-round pick Zach Frazier got the first-team reps with the offense, and multiple beat writers believe he's making a push to start come Week 1.
Frazier has been building momentum in recent weeks with strong showings at practice, and he's coming off a preseason debut that saw him shine.
Frazier posted didn't give up a sack or pressure against the Houston Texans, and he posted the team's best run-blocking grade (72.2) and a solid 73.0 pass-blocking grade in the contest, per Pro Football Focus.
Meanwhile, Herbig stood out for all the wrong reasons. He had two bad exchanges with quarterback Justin Fields that led to a pair of fumbles, and Herbig also struggled in run-blocking, posting a lackluster 58.4 grade.
"I like their efforts, but I cannot remove that fundamental component of the eval," head coach Mike Tomlin said of the snap issues, per Aaron Becker of Yardbarker. "We’ve got to be 1,000 percent on (quarterback-center) exchanges. That’s just the standard for professional ball.”
Not only did Frazier get the first-team reps at practice on Thursday with Herbig out, he also played well, according to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic, who believes the rookie is making a strong case to start.
The Steelers’ second-round pick showed he was ready for the promotion — and it didn’t take long. On the very first 11-on-11 rep against the Bills’ starters, Frazier and guard Isaac Seumalo opened a gaping hole. Najee Harris hit it hard and took it all the way to the end zone for one of the early highlights.
Later during that same team period, Frazier and Seumalo worked together to clear another lane. Frazier capped the play with an exclamation point, dumping the Bills’ lineman into the turf.
If Herbig can't get on the field for preseason Week 2 due to his injury, that opens the door for Frazier to get first-team reps, something Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes could open the door for the West Virginia product to grab the starting role.
"But if (Herbig doesn't play), thatfurther opens the door for Zach Frazier, who was very impressive in the first game," Dulac said on the North Shore Drive podcast. This gives (the Steelers) an opportunity to see him against other first teamers instead of second and third teamers that he faced the other night against the Texans.
"So, if he performs in this game, and against (the Dallas Cowboys') first teamers like he did last week, then come Atlanta, do not be surprised at all if Zach Frazier is the starting center."
Of course, the expectation all along has been for Frazier to start in his first season, it just wasn't clear when that would happen.
After a slow start at training camp, it looked like Frazier might need more time. But clearly the rookie has drastically changed his trajectory over the past two weeks and he's now in a good spot to be the starter come Week 1.