The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ offensive line was dealt a significant blow after starting center Nate Herbig was placed on injured reserve due to a torn rotator cuff.
Herbig, 26, was coming off a strong 2023 season in which he allowed just one sack and 10 quarterback pressures in 156 snaps. He was set to make $4 million this season and had spent much of training camp, as well as the Steelers’ first two preseason games as the starting center.
The Steelers will now turn to second-round rookie Zach Frazier to anchor the starting offensive line.
Frazier, 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds, was a standout along West Virginia’s offensive line and one of the premier interior line prospects in this year’s draft class.
Pro Football Focus points out that Frazier didn’t allow a sack in 803 snaps in Morgantown during the 2023 campaign while garnering a 77.3 overall grade and a stalwart 83.3 pass-protection mark.
“Frazier has the perfect background for an interior offensive lineman,” the Pro Football Focus Scouting Department writes. “As he was a four-time state wrestling champion in high school. That built-in core strength is a massive boon to his work on the interior.
“His body control and forearm/grip strength allow him to latch on to defenders. His flexibility is impressive, and he can get low to consistently win with leverage at the snap, even on quarterback sneaks. His arms are short, which is OK for a center, but he will lose cross-face reps against longer defensive linemen.”
Losing Herbig’s veteran experience is a blow to the Steelers’ line, but Frazier likely would have seen the field at some point anyway, this just isn’t the path to playing time Pittsburgh likely anticipated.
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