No matter how much the NFL evolves, centers with scheme versatility and week-to-week dependability will always be coveted. With his 2024 NFL Draft scouting report, does West Virginia’s Zach Frazier fit those characteristics? Where does he stand to go off the board?
Zach Frazier’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’2 5/8″
- Weight: 313 pounds
- Length: 32 1/4″
- Wingspan: 78 1/2″
- Hand: 10 7/8″
- Position: Center
- School: West Virginia
- Current Year: Senior
In college, Frazier was a four-year player and a starter in as many seasons at West Virginia, starting his first season at left guard and then his final three at center. In 2023, he was a first-team All-Big 12 honoree at center and earned an invite to the Senior Bowl.
Frazier’s collegiate career was impressive, but many people don’t know just how dominant he was even before he reached the college ranks. In high school, he was just as indomitable — but in wrestling.
For four straight years — from 2017 to 2020 — Frazier was the heavyweight state champion in wrestling at Fairmont High School in West Virginia. He only lost two matches in his entire career.
West Virginia Center Zach Frazier(#54) is one guy I think will be drafted higher than people realize. He is strong, shows really good technique, and the leverage he plays with is phenomenal. You can see that wrestling background in his tape. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/Jvj4J3NxlM
— Sanjit T. (@Sanjit__T) April 21, 2024
The same natural leverage, grip, and core strength that helped Frazier dominate as a wrestler has also helped him become one of the best center prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Of course, even when you evaluate every single trait, it still adds up to an incomplete picture. The completing piece, for Frazier, is his relentless mentality and grind as a worker behind the scenes.
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Frazier missed the Senior Bowl, as he was rehabbing from a fractured fibula suffered during the season — but he reportedly worked tirelessly in an attempt to be ready for Mobile, Ala. By the NFL Combine, he was able to do position drills and put up 30 reps on the bench press.
Finally, when Frazier’s pro day came around, the Mountaineers star was almost fully healthy, and he put up stellar athletic numbers — among them were a 5.24-second 40-yard dash and a 4.69-second short-shuttle time and a 28.5″ vertical.
Any way you slice it, Frazier looks like an NFL starter — both with his tools and his mentality. But where exactly does he stand in a center class that’s strong at the top?
Frazier’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Low-cut offensive lineman with superb mass and an incredibly strong upper half.
- Nimble athlete with good blocking range in space and solid lateral mobility.
- Rapidly extends and loads his base off the snap to attain proper alignment.
- Former state champion wrestler with an excellent understanding of leverage.
- Has great hinge fluidity for his size, swiveling around to pick off LBs in space.
- Possesses stellar anchor strength and can stall out power rushes with his core.
- Has the strength to delay backside pursuit linemen and pry his way to the second level.
- Hands carry shock in pass protection and can knock adjacent linemen off balance.
- Relatively synergetic pass blocker who sequences his base and hands very well.
- Can quickly process stunts, realign base, and re-exert hands past initial extensions.
- Possesses good anchor placement and can quickly combat extensions and re-anchor.
- Robotically assignment-sound in the run game with excellent angle IQ and control.
- Can rotate his base while anchored to seal off defenders and drive them out of plays.
- Manhandles 1-on-1 run blocks off the snap with leg churn, leverage, and physicality.
- Able to torque through and finish defenders who sacrifice leverage trying to pry free.
Weaknesses
- Doesn’t quite have elite explosiveness or range in space.
- Doesn’t have superb recovery athleticism and can be lumbering on sharp redirections.
- Lack of elite length slightly detracts from his maximum knock-back power capacity.
- Sometimes gives up too much initial displacement against power.
- On occasion, can be late to help guards who let by initial disruption in the run game.
- At times, lurches past center of gravity as a moving blocker, eroding grip and balance.
- Can be baited into extending prematurely against blitzing linebackers.
- Sometimes rotates his hips too early in pass protection, allowing paths around his gaps.
- Sometimes widens his base too far, inhibiting his ability to recollect lateral positioning.
- Occasionally overshoots blocking angles working ahead of screens.
- Doesn’t quite have elite hip flexibility and sometimes experiences transition delays.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Frazier grades out as a top-50 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s one of my highest-graded pure center prospects, and he profiles as a quality starter very early in his NFL career. He could be a surprise Round 1 pick, but he presents the best value on Day 2.
Frazier doesn’t quite have the elite athleticism or power that places prospects like Graham Barton and Jackson Powers-Johnson above him. However, he’s still an extremely talented, tenacious, dependable, and scheme-versatile player.
Most of the areas for improvement listed for Frazier are minor inconsistencies or non-elite traits rather than glaring, catastrophic flaws. Frazier might not be an elite athlete, and he doesn’t have overwhelming reach — but aside from that, he’s incredibly well-rounded.
Frazier plays with the natural leverage and feel that you’d expect from a former state-champion wrestler. His base is always aligned properly, and he plays with good pad level and the anchor strength to dominate blocks in both phases.
In the run game, Frazier is mobile, malleable, instinctive, and a physical blocker with a finisher’s mentality. And in the passing game, he’s a synergetic pass protector with great extension mechanics, lateral mobility, stunt awareness, and power absorption.
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Ultimately, Frazier has the athleticism, strength, flexibility, power, tenacity, awareness, and technical edge to be a scheme-versatile starter at center with impact potential.
With his range and angle IQ, he can be used as a puller, a zone blocker, a gap sealer, and a second-level snowplow, and he can shore up the middle in pass protection for a decade-plus.
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