Zach Frazier is part of the Steelers’ young, new nucleus along the offensive line, and [they want to nurture that](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/02/zach-frazier-excited-for-steelers-young-ol-gonna-build-together-and-grow-together). Since 2022, they have invested heavily in the group, both in the draft and in free agency. They wanted to put the exclamation mark on it a year ago, using three top-four draft picks on linemen.
They started with OT Troy Fautanu in the first round, then OC Zach Frazier in the second. In Round 4, they went back to the well and added OG Mason McCormick. All three are projected to start, from center to right tackle, this season.
To that, you add third-year OT Broderick Jones and the lone outside addition, Isaac Seumalo. Particularly with Frazier, Fautanu, and Jones, the Steelers believe and hope they have their offensive line for the long haul. And those linemen want to make it happen, proving the Steelers right.
“We want to build that core and we want to keep that core together for as long as we can and build on that,” Zach Frazier said of the Steelers’ young offensive linemen, [via Pittsburgh’s DSEN](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIor8fBUkCw&ab_channel=Pittsburgh%27sDSEN). They already have the starting components together, in theory, so now it’s about developing them, individually and as a unit.
Given the youth and inexperience of the group, it’s no surprise that there has been progress.
“The coaches pulled up some clips from last year,” Frazier said. “It’s cool to see how far we’ve come since that point. You could see a lot of improvement just from this time last year. We were rookies, kind of didn’t know what we were doing.”
Frazier admitted that he and his fellow linemen have to cringe watching that tape from last year.
“Yeah, it definitely wasn’t pretty at times,” he said with a laugh. “But it’s a good thing we got it cleaned up, and I think we still have a lot of room to clean up even more and keep improving.”
Zach Frazier was arguably the Steelers’ best offensive lineman last season, starting from Day 1. However, he admits that there is still a lot for him to work on, and for the group as a whole. It helps, he said, that they all know their place and their role this offseason, a stark contrast from a year ago.
Even in Frazier’s case, the Steelers spent the offseason running with Nate Herbig as the starting center. It wasn’t until Herbig suffered a season-ending injury that the rookie stepped into that role. Of course, Fautanu missed nearly his entire rookie season due to injury. McCormick was supposed to be a backup the entire season, before they lost starting RG James Daniels.
The Steelers opted not to re-sign Daniels, though, perhaps largely due to what McCormick showed. At least he and Zach Frazier had the opportunity to put in a lot of work together. Fautanu, though, will essentially be a new piece, at least on the field. And with Broderick Jones finally at left tackle, they have the whole summer to get it together.