The Pittsburgh Steelers ushered in another highly touted draft class in 2024. Zach Frazier was the team's selection in the second round with the 51st overall pick. The West Virginia center is expected to come in and make an instant impact for the team he grew up closest to as a Fairmont, West Virginia native. While Steelers fans hope to see what Frazier can do right out of the gate in Week 1 when the team travels to visit the Atlanta Falcons, The Athletic's Chris Burke wrote about the matchup that comes later in the season he's most excited when it comes to Frazier.
Burke recently had a write-up of the top rookie matchups to circle on the calendar in 2024, and Pittsburgh visiting the Washington Commanders in Week 10 was one of the games he hinted viewers might want to watch. The game will feature second-round picks in Frazier and defensive tackle Jer'Zhan "Johhny" Newton.
"Frazier already can be penciled in as the Steelers’ starting center, assuming he doesn’t suffer any setbacks returning from the broken leg that ended his final season at West Virginia," he wrote. "Newton has injury issues himself — he’s scheduled for a second surgery on his foot. He’ll also have to steal some snaps from Washington’s stalwart DT combo of Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne."
Both prospects had injury concerns coming out of college, as Burke notes. Despite those potential problems, the Steelers and Commanders decided to make each a second-round selection. The Athletic's prospect guru Dane Brguler had Newton ranked 28th on his final big board and Frazier 34th.
Frazier and Newton never faced off against each other in college with the former in the Big 12 and the latter in the Big Ten for their respective college careers. As Burke wrote, Frazier should be the starter at center for Pittsburgh immediately, while Newton might be fighting for snaps in Washington. The fact that this is a Week 10 matchup gives Newton some time to heal from his second surgery of the offseason and find a spot in the rotation on the Commanders' defensive line.
Steelers' Frazier Will Have Other Rookie Challengers In The AFC North
The Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns added defensive tackles in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. This adds another layer of intrigue to the already fun-to-watch AFC North battles that often come down to which team can win in the trenches.
Two picks before Pittsburgh scooped up Frazier, Cincinnati added University of Michigan product Kris Jenkins Jr. Three picks after Pittsburgh picked the center from its backyard, the Browns added Ohio State alumnus Michael Hall Jr.
The AFC North teams understand how important the trenches are to winning football games. That's why we saw the teams in the division spend significant draft capital on both sides of the line. Pittsburgh took offensive linemen with two of its first three picks.
The Browns didn't have a first-round pick but took an offensive lineman with its second selection after taking Hall. The Bengals invested a first-round pick in Georgia tackle Amarius Mims before adding Jenkins. The Baltimore Ravens used a second-round pick on Washington offensive lineman Roger Rosengarten.
The AFC North has a tradition of hard-fought games, where the team that wins in the trenches often emerges as the victor. This tradition seems to be here to stay, as all the teams have made significant investments in draft picks for both offensive and defensive lines.
These organizations are demonstrating to their fans that they understand the importance of this aspect of the game and are using their resources to address it. The rookies are about to experience firsthand what AFC North football is about. It starts with their performance in the trenches.
