Steelers A to Z: No longer a rookie starter, center Zach Frazier poised for leap in 2025

Editor’s note: From now until reporting day to training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2025 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 12 and July 23. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

C ZACH FRAZIER

Experience/age: Second season, turns 24 in August

Contract status: $1.71 million cap hit in 2025, signed through 2027

The past: A three-time team captain and two-time All America at West Virginia, Frazier joined the Steelers as a second-round pick last year. Early returns suggest he could end up next in their line of great centers over the years — from Ray Mansfield to Mike Webster to Dermontti Dawson to Jeff Hartings to Maurkice Pouncey, it was more than a half century of players who all made AP NFL All Pro.

Frazier hasn’t gotten there yet but he was on the Pro Football Focus all-rookie team for 2024. Though he ascended to the starting job only when Nate Herbig suffered a season-ending shoulder injury during training camp, it was inevitable Frazier would start at some point. He ended up making 15 starts — missing two because of an ankle injury — and via PFF ratings was the NFL’s fourth highest-graded center in 2024. The 6-foot-3, 310-pound Frazier was named the Steelers’ team rookie of the year.

Steelers center Zach Frazier, asked if there was any adjustment period to working with a new QB now that Aaron Rodgers is here pic.twitter.com/q3gSDdDvo1

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) June 10, 2025

2025 outlook: Frazier enters his second NFL season nailed down as the starter in the middle of the Steelers’ (mostly) young offensive line. He’ll be 24 before the start of the season and has all that power-conference experience to rely on in addition to his full season working with a future Hall of Fame quarterback (Russell Wilson) in 2024 to lean on in working with a future Hall of Fame quarterback (Aaron Rodgers) in 2025.

He wasn’t perfect as a rookie — the QB/center exchange was an issue early on, and the Steelers’ running game with Frazier as the blocker in the center was inconsistent. But Frazier showed enough that he’s generated legitimate buzz he could end up a perennial Pro Bowler. That could start as soon as now.