Steelers Now
At halftime of Saturday night’s Steelers-Buccaneers preseason game, Steelers center Zach Frazier was presented the “Joe Greene Great Performance Award” as Pittsburgh’s top performing rookie in 2024. This award was voted on by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America.
Zach Frazier being presented with the team’s rookie of the year award at halftime pic.twitter.com/KXTa98Di9L
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) August 17, 2025
Frazier, a second-round pick (No. 51 overall) in the 2024 NFL Draft, was pushed into the starting lineup after veteran Nate Herbig suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in August.
Since taking over as the starter, Frazier has looked the part. He joined fellow teammates Joey Porter Jr. and Najee Harris as well as former Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, among others who have won the award.
It’s safe to say it was a whirlwind of a season for Frazier.
“It’s flown by, honestly. It’s gone by fast,” Frazier said after winning the award in December of 2024. “I feel like I’ve learned a lot. Just tried to build week by week. Get a little bit better every week and just focus on how to get better and how I can make our team better.”
It hasn’t all been good, however. Frazier suffered a left ankle injury in Week 6 that forced him to miss two games.
He revealed it was the first time he ever missed significant time.
“That was tough. That was the first time I’ve ever missed time during the season, except for last year when I missed the bowl game,” Frazier said. “That was tough on me. Definitely not a good feeling being out and not being able to go. But once I got back in against Washington, started clicking again.”
Nick Shook of NFL.com named Frazier to his All-Under 25 Team. He expects Frazier to continue the Steelers’ great tradition of having elite centers.
“Frazier has just one NFL campaign under his belt but gave the Steelers the kind of reliability they’ve lacked from the ultra-important center position since Maurkice Pouncey’s last season in 2020, registering a top-five offensive grade among all centers last season, per PFF,” Shook wrote. “Frazier followed in Pouncey’s footsteps by earning the team’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award, the first time it was given to a center since Pouncey received it in 2010, suggesting the Steelers have finally found their successor at the pivot. General manager Omar Khan has effectively rebuilt the Pittsburgh offensive line in short order, and Frazier seems like the best choice of all, with many years of success ahead of him.”
The Steelers selected Frazier with their second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, which may turn out to be one of the biggest steals of the draft.
Frazier gave up just one sack and 12 pressures while starting 15 games for the Steelers last season, per PFF. His 98.8 pass protection efficiency was second only to Humphrey among centers with at least 1,000 snaps this season.
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