Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Frazier Ready For His Name To Be Called In NFL Draft
April 25, 2024 01:31 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Draft day is here for NFL teams, and West Virginia's Zach Frazier is going to among the 257 players taken in this year's three-day event.
The question is when?
Some, such as ESPN.com draft experts Matt Miller and Field Yates, have Frazier rated as the top center in this year's draft. Others have him below Duke's Graham Barton, Oregon's Jackson Powers-Johnson and potentially even Georgia's Sedrick Van Pran-Granger and Penn State's Hunter Nourzad.
NFL.com rated Frazier the fourth-best center coming out of this year's NFL Draft Combine and the consensus seems to be that he could go anywhere from late in the first round to early in the third round.
Teams to keep an eye on seeking interior offensive line help include the Cowboys, Packers, Chargers, Dolphins, Steelers, 49ers, Seahawks, and Buccaneers. The Packers are intriguing because of the five picks they have in the top three rounds - No. 25, No. 41, No. 58, No. 88 and No. 91.
Pittsburgh has four top-100 picks (20, 51, 84 and 98), as does Tampa Bay (26, 57, 89 and 92), while Dallas (24, 56 and 87) and San Francisco (31, 63 and 94) have three each.
Miami and Seattle, two other teams needing interior offensive line help, have two picks each in the top three rounds – the Dolphins at No. 21 and No. 55, and the Seahawks at No. 16 and No. 81.
NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter has Frazier slotted to the Chargers with the 69th overall pick in the third round.
ESPN.com rates Frazier the 63rd-best player in this year's draft, and its draft expert Steve Muench calls him "tough to beat once he locks onto defenders with his big hands. He has the quickness to reach and seal defenders on zone runs.
"Frazier has a nasty disposition and good finishing power," he added. "He gets set quickly, has a strong punch and anchors well in pass protection."
ESPN's Matt Miller compares Frazier favorably to Kansas City Chiefs third-year center Creed Humphrey, a former Oklahoma product who was drafted in the second round in 2021. That seems to be in line with where most people expect Frazier to be selected.
What an NFL team is going to get in Frazier is a player who could become an anchor to its offensive line for many years to come.
Neal Brown, his coach at West Virginia, has seen enormous growth in Frazier since recruiting him out of Fairmont Senior High back in 2019.
"He never played center in high school," Brown said recently. "As a sophomore, junior and his fourth year, his snaps got increasingly better and that was something he never had to do and that's something that has improved."
However, Brown maintains Frazier's most significant development has come off the field.
"The biggest jump he made was his ability to communicate.," Brown explained. "(Press conferences are not) his natural element, but now he can get up here and communicate in a press setting. He can get up in front of his teammates and talk. We got very good feedback on his meetings with NFL personnel, and I think that's his biggest growth."
Another appealing aspect to Frazier's resume is his wrestling background in high school. Brown said that has repeatedly come up in conversations he's had with NFL personnel.
"He's always been a naturally strong guy, and he's always played with great leverage, which goes to his wrestling background," he said.
"His football knowledge through our staff here, but also him being diligent and working on it and understanding what defenses are doing … we probably did as good a job as I've ever been around of getting our people on our most dangerous defensive threats, and he was making those identifications," Brown concluded.
Whenever Frazier is picked, he will become the fourth Brown-coached player at West Virginia taken in the NFL Draft, joining Frazier's former Fairmont Senior teammate Dante Stills, linebacker Tony Fields II and offensive tackle Colton McKivitz.
He will also become the first center selected since Rich Braham in 1994, although Braham played tackle in college, and Mike Compton, an All-American center at WVU who was projected as an offensive guard when he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1993.
Both ended up playing center professionally – Braham for 13 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and Compton for 12 seasons with the Lions, Patriots and Jaguars, including as a starter for New England in Super Bowl XXXVI.
This year's NFL Draft is taking place at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit and begins at 8 p.m. ET. Television coverage is on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network.
The question is when?
Some, such as ESPN.com draft experts Matt Miller and Field Yates, have Frazier rated as the top center in this year's draft. Others have him below Duke's Graham Barton, Oregon's Jackson Powers-Johnson and potentially even Georgia's Sedrick Van Pran-Granger and Penn State's Hunter Nourzad.
NFL.com rated Frazier the fourth-best center coming out of this year's NFL Draft Combine and the consensus seems to be that he could go anywhere from late in the first round to early in the third round.
Teams to keep an eye on seeking interior offensive line help include the Cowboys, Packers, Chargers, Dolphins, Steelers, 49ers, Seahawks, and Buccaneers. The Packers are intriguing because of the five picks they have in the top three rounds - No. 25, No. 41, No. 58, No. 88 and No. 91.
Pittsburgh has four top-100 picks (20, 51, 84 and 98), as does Tampa Bay (26, 57, 89 and 92), while Dallas (24, 56 and 87) and San Francisco (31, 63 and 94) have three each.
Miami and Seattle, two other teams needing interior offensive line help, have two picks each in the top three rounds – the Dolphins at No. 21 and No. 55, and the Seahawks at No. 16 and No. 81.
NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter has Frazier slotted to the Chargers with the 69th overall pick in the third round.
ESPN.com rates Frazier the 63rd-best player in this year's draft, and its draft expert Steve Muench calls him "tough to beat once he locks onto defenders with his big hands. He has the quickness to reach and seal defenders on zone runs.
"Frazier has a nasty disposition and good finishing power," he added. "He gets set quickly, has a strong punch and anchors well in pass protection."
ESPN's Matt Miller compares Frazier favorably to Kansas City Chiefs third-year center Creed Humphrey, a former Oklahoma product who was drafted in the second round in 2021. That seems to be in line with where most people expect Frazier to be selected.
What an NFL team is going to get in Frazier is a player who could become an anchor to its offensive line for many years to come.
Neal Brown, his coach at West Virginia, has seen enormous growth in Frazier since recruiting him out of Fairmont Senior High back in 2019.
"He never played center in high school," Brown said recently. "As a sophomore, junior and his fourth year, his snaps got increasingly better and that was something he never had to do and that's something that has improved."
However, Brown maintains Frazier's most significant development has come off the field.
"The biggest jump he made was his ability to communicate.," Brown explained. "(Press conferences are not) his natural element, but now he can get up here and communicate in a press setting. He can get up in front of his teammates and talk. We got very good feedback on his meetings with NFL personnel, and I think that's his biggest growth."
Another appealing aspect to Frazier's resume is his wrestling background in high school. Brown said that has repeatedly come up in conversations he's had with NFL personnel.
"He's always been a naturally strong guy, and he's always played with great leverage, which goes to his wrestling background," he said.
"His football knowledge through our staff here, but also him being diligent and working on it and understanding what defenses are doing … we probably did as good a job as I've ever been around of getting our people on our most dangerous defensive threats, and he was making those identifications," Brown concluded.
Whenever Frazier is picked, he will become the fourth Brown-coached player at West Virginia taken in the NFL Draft, joining Frazier's former Fairmont Senior teammate Dante Stills, linebacker Tony Fields II and offensive tackle Colton McKivitz.
He will also become the first center selected since Rich Braham in 1994, although Braham played tackle in college, and Mike Compton, an All-American center at WVU who was projected as an offensive guard when he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1993.
Both ended up playing center professionally – Braham for 13 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and Compton for 12 seasons with the Lions, Patriots and Jaguars, including as a starter for New England in Super Bowl XXXVI.
This year's NFL Draft is taking place at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit and begins at 8 p.m. ET. Television coverage is on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network.
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