The West Virginia Mountaineers are no stranger to developing future NFL stars on the gridiron. And perhaps the most formidable WVU star to make it to the highest level of professional football in recent years has been Zach Frazier.
Frazier spent four years as the starting center for the Mountaineers, anchoring an offensive line unit that paved the way for one of the top rushing attacks in college football by his senior year. After four years at the collegiate level, he declared for the NFL Draft, despite having one season of eligibility remaining due to the COVID year.
He would end up being selected in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he has since made a name for himself as one of the premier young offensive linemen in the NFL. He was named to the All-Rookie team during his first year in the league after starting 14 games for the Steelers, and would follow that up by appearing in all 17 games and making 16 starts in 2025.
Despite having just two seasons and 2,000 snaps under his belt in the NFL, he is already falling into an important role in the Steel City. And the latest updates coming out of offseason workouts in Pittsburgh suggests that he's taking the next step in his development as well.
Zach Frazier taking on leadership role with the Steelers
According to Alan Saunders, who covers the franchise for Steelers Now, "it was clear that Zach Frazier is becoming one of the young leaders of the offense" during OTAs this past week. With Pittsburgh keeping their veterans out of action for the week to allow some extra focus for the younger players, Frazier proved himself to be an offensive leader for the organization.
But this will be no surprise to fans of the Mountaineers, who saw for years that Frazier has the capabilities to shoulder the responsibilities that come with being a locker room leader. Frazier has always perfectly embodied the type of grit and hard work that WVU has become well-known for. Now, the rest of the football world is finding out just what the Fairmont, West Virginia native is capable of doing.
And if Frazier can continue to excel at this level early in his career, he'll likely be able to carve out a role in the NFL for as long as he wants to keep playing competitive football. Of course, if that does happen, it won't be much of surprise to West Virginia fans, either.
Add us as a preferred source on Google