The Pittsburgh Steelers set out to find their next great center in last year’s draft, and Zach Frazier managed to exceed those lofty expectations in his rookie year. Now he could be the key to making sure Aaron Rodgers stays upright and successful within Arthur Smith’s offensive system.
“I think the most success I have to see is how Aaron Rodgers does against the blitz,” Nate Tice said Thursday via Good Morning Football on NFL Network. “Last year, Aaron Rodgers [was] 32nd among quarterbacks in yards per attempt against the blitz. He was 31st in EPA per dropback, 26th in success rate against the blitz.
“Why I’m bringing that all up: The Steelers have this guy named Zach Frazier at center, who is a star. I think this year, if he’s healthy, he handles all that protection stuff. So I really do think there’s a path here for this working even more than I thought originally.”
You would think a veteran quarterback like Rodgers who gets rid of the ball quickly would be able to feast on the blitz, but that wasn’t the case last year. His offensive line really struggled to get on the same page with protection calls and Rodgers’ various injuries and ailments made matters worse. He dealt with knee swelling, a hamstring strain and a high-ankle sprain. And that was all on top of being just a year removed from the Achilles injury in 2023.
Between his increased mobility from last season and the ascending offensive line led by Zach Frazier, Rodgers should have a much easier time dealing with pressure. It used to be a strength of his game, and getting back to that would go a long way toward improving on his struggles from a year ago in New York.
He had too much on his plate in New York with his fingerprints all over the offense. Now he will have some input, but Arthur Smith will create the structure for him to play within. Part of that will be leaning on the run game as the Jets had one of the lowest run rates in the league last season.
Frazier dealt with the mental side of his responsibilities really well as a rookie considering he had to work with two different starting quarterbacks and dealt with an injury of his own in the middle of the season. Now he has a full year of experience, and he won’t be playing next to any rookies like he was last season. Frazier’s near-perfect college GPA shows how smart he is. And that translates onto the field with protection calls at the line of scrimmage.
Recommended for you