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Zach Frazier

Steelers Sign Zach Frazier, Complete Rookie Signings

June 10th, 2024 at 5:46pm CST by Ben Levine

The Steelers have completed their draft pick signings. The team announced that they’ve signed second-round center Zach Frazier to his four-year rookie contract.

The West Virginia product got into 47 games during his collegiate career, including a 2023 campaign where he earned first-team All-Big 12 honors after not allowing a single sack. That performance helped put him firmly on the NFL map, and he was ultimately the second center off the board (behind Graham Barton) when he was selected at No. 51.

“They’re getting a hard worker who is going to give everything he has to the organization to win football games,” Frazier said in a team statement. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

The Steelers moved on from Mason Cole this offseason, opening a starting spot for Frazier. Considering the rookie’s versatility (he played both center and guard in college), the Steelers could shift Frazier around if necessary. The Steelers will also feature another rookie starting OL in first-round offensive tackle Troy Fautanu.

Today’s move completes the Steelers’ draft pick signings. The team’s entire draft class includes:

Latest On Steelers’ Offensive Line

May 25th, 2024 at 2:44pm CST by Ely Allen

The Steelers offensive line in 2023 was pretty decent, allowing the ninth-least sacks in the NFL and ranking as the 13th-best rushing offense. Still, Pittsburgh opted to make a number of moves towards an upgrade on their offensive front for the 2024 season. In fact, the Steelers utilized their first two draft picks (and three of seven) this year on linemen, and all three could be in line to start as rookies.

The only position that lost a starter on the line this year was center. The team watched their starter of the last two seasons, Mason Cole, depart in free agency. Cole graded out as the league’s 29th-best center out of 36 graded players at the position last season, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). They have a couple options to replace Cole, including veteran Nate Herbig. Herbig hasn’t played center much at the college or NFL level, but he has versatile experience all over the line and could be utilized there in a pinch. The favorite to start, though, is the second-round rookie out of West Virginia, Zach Frazier.

At guard things are a bit more interesting. Like Frazier, fourth-round rookie guard out of South Dakota State Mason McCormick is currently slotted to start on the depth chart of the team’s website. McCormick is listed as the starting left guard, presumably because that’s the only position he played in college. The team’s returning left guard, Isaac Seumalo, graded out as the team’s best offensive lineman in 2023, though, per PFF. So, unless the team benches their top returning lineman, Seumalo or McCormick will need to move over to the right side to compete with James Daniels. Seumalo has experience starting at right guard in the past, so it makes the most sense to move him over.

At tackle, the Steelers utilized their first-round pick to bring in Washington lineman Troy Fautanu. Many projected Fautanu’s skillset to fit best at guard or center at the NFL-level, though he spent most of his time at tackle during college in Seattle. Pittsburgh believes that he has the ability to stay at tackle and start in the NFL. Pundits predict that last year’s rookie first-round pick Broderick Jones will remain at right tackle, where he played in 2023, putting Fautanu at left tackle to replace Dan Moore Jr. as the starter. According to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, though, Fautanu has spent the first three days of organized team activities at right tackle behind Jones.

Kaboly doesn’t think Fautanu will stay as the backup at right tackle, though. More likely, with OTAs serving as the ideal time to mold and learn. This experience is the perfect opportunity for Fautanu to learn both positions in the event that he may have to move over to the right side and fill in for an injured Jones. It’s not uncommon for offensive lineman to need time to develop, but the Steelers likely didn’t use their first two draft picks on players they didn’t intend to start.

Things are still extremely early. The rookies are still finding their footing, and a number of camp battles are sure to ensue. The team even has plenty of time to sign a veteran free agent if they deem it necessary. Still, Pittsburgh has the potential to serve as a rare occasion in which we see three rookies starting across the offensive line.

We last saw that in 2020 when the Dolphins started Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt, and Solomon Kindley (their first-, second-, and fourth-round picks, respectively) as rookies. That Miami team improved their record from 5-11 the previous year to 10-6 despite the youth across the line. The Steelers may be hoping for a similar level of improvement.

Teams Viewing Steelers As Most Likely To Trade For WR?

April 19th, 2024 at 10:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Known more for drafting and developing wide receivers — often from Day 2 — than trading for them, the Steelers have produced an impressive track record on this front. Over the past 15 years, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson and George Pickens have enjoyed varying levels of success with the team despite coming off the board after Round 1.

It is arguable no team has strung together a run of homegrown WR talent like this in the modern game, but rumblings continue to emerge about the Steelers being ready to pull the trigger on a trade. A report earlier this week indicated the team had inquired about Brandon Aiyuk and was interested in trading for a wideout, and the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora submits another offering in this direction.

Rival execs view the Steelers as the team potentially the most motivated to acquire a receiver via trade. While a Tee Higgins move will not happen — unlikely to be moved, Higgins definitely would not be dealt within the division — teams certainly are monitoring the 49ers regarding an Aiyuk swap.

Although Sean Payton and Broncos GM George Paton said (via the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson) he has spoken with Courtland Sutton recently, the 6-foot-4 wideout showed by far the most chemistry with Russell Wilson last season. The team currently employing Wilson may be interested in reuniting the two, as Sutton is staying away from Broncos workouts in hopes of a new contract.

The Broncos nearly traded Sutton to the Ravens last year, and after their Jerry Jeudy asking price dropped drastically (from a first-rounder to accepting fifth- and sixth-rounders from the Browns), Sutton probably will not cost a second-round pick — Denver’s hope in 2023 — entering his age-29 season. Aiyuk will be more difficult to acquire, and it is worth wondering if the Steelers would pull the trigger, given the fifth-year wideout’s extension price and the AFC North franchise’s success finding receivers in the draft.

This draft is set to produce yet another deep receiver crop, which stands to lower prices in trades. But the Steelers may need more than one starter. Dealing Johnson to Carolina in a deal that brought back cornerback Donte Jackson, Pittsburgh has little surrounding Pickens presently. A slot player and a second boundary option would stand to be in play for the Steelers. The 6-foot-4 Sutton (signed through 2025 on a $15MM-per-year deal) made some of last season’s best catches, working as a deep threat and red zone target (10 2023 TDs) for Wilson. The 6-foot Aiyuk, who is tied to a fifth-year option worth $14.1MM, has displayed a bit more versatility in Kyle Shanahan‘s system.

If the Steelers are to execute a trade, they could devote more draft resources to other positions. Pittsburgh is targeting help at center and tackle, with The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly indicating a right tackle addition is on the team’s radar (subscription required). They hosted 11 O-linemen on “30” visits, including Georgia’s Amarius Mims, Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton, Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga along with interior O-lineman Graham Barton (Duke), Jackson Powers-Johnson (Oregon) and Zach Frazier (West Virginia), Kaboly adds. They also met with Washington O-lineman Troy Fautanu. Daniel Jeremiah’s big board lists each of these players as top-30 talents; the Steelers pick at No. 20.

The Steelers, who cut two-year center starter Mason Cole, look to be considering moving 2023 first-rounder Broderick Jones — their primary right tackle to close the season — to the left side, where he primarily played in college. That would leave three-year LT starter Dan Moore Jr. in limbo. Pro Football Focus has not been a Moore fan, but the former fourth-round pick — who is going into a contract year — has started 49 career games. After the team drafted Jones to step in for Chukwuma Okorafor, the latter is now with the Patriots. A tackle move — one that may be definitively in the Steelers’ Round 1 plans, as this is a deep class — would stand to give Jones a long-term bookend.

Pittsburgh’s Jackson trade aside, a cornerback will also be targeted — just likely not in Round 1 — according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac. Jackson is in a contract year, while the team cut Patrick Peterson. Mike Tomlin said a Peterson reunion will be considered, but the likely Hall of Famer is going into his age-34 season.

Dulac adds the Steelers also like Missouri defensive lineman Darius Robinson, whom the Tigers used across the formation. Ranked 39th on Jeremiah’s big board, the 285-pound defender might not be available for Pittsburgh without a second-round trade-up. The Steelers hold the No. 51 overall pick. In fact, ProFootballNetwork.com’s Adam Caplan notes Robinson is expected to be off the board at some point late in the first round. The Steelers have Cameron Heyward under contract for one more season, his age-35 campaign.