Zach Frazier is Taking His Game to 'Another Level'
Morgantown, WV - It’s a rarity to see a true freshman starting on the offensive line. So rare, in fact, it had been 40 years in between since the phenomenon happened in Morgantown. West Virginia offensive lineman Zach Frazier did it in the 2020 season opener and did it at a position he’d never played in live game setting, center.
Sep 12, 2020; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers center Zach Frazier (54) pauses before a snap during the first quarter against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Ben Queen - USA Today Sports
Frazier was filling in for a suspended Chase Behrndt, then moved and started at left guard the following week and started all 10 games of the season. For his efforts, Frazier earned All-American honors from 247Sports, ESPN, FWAA.
Last season, Frazier moved back to center and the accolades followed, earning AFCA, and Walter Camp All-America Second Team honors.
Frazier, a two-time Iron Mountaineer Award winner, has used his strength and athleticism to make up for his experience.
“He’s a weight room junkie,” said Moore. “He’s so much more athletic and faster than what people really give him credit for because he really looks like a mover - runs really well.”
West Virginia center Zach Frazier anchoring the offensive line through 2021 fall camp.
Caleb Saunders
As the center, Frazier is tasked to get his offensive line in the right direction, sort of the quarterback of the o-line, and according to Moore, he’s made significant steps in his knowledge of opposing defenses.
“The way he identifies things, it all starts with him, and he and I sit down and him seeing leverage of linebackers and safeties and the tilt of d-lineman and the way they lineup - there’s so many little things that he’s starting to see so much faster,” said Moore. “Last year he could see it on film, but this year he’s doing a really good job of communicating it on the field and communicating with those other guys.”
Moore credits seeing the Mountaineers defense in fall camp on a daily basis for Frazier’s improvement.
“That’s the good thing about going against our defense is we do see so much movement that it gives us reps everyday of seeing that stuff so really his knowledge of the attention to detail, the little things of the game is really taking him to another level,” said Moore.
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Frazier is expected to lead his offensive line onto the field, set the tone and rally the o-line when they are meeting the staff's standards.
“Had a big day today. We go out and we have a really awful beginning of practice and I put it on him. I circled them up and I said, ‘Zach, you got’em. Get them ready to go,’” said Moore. “He did a great job of stepping in that huddle and getting those ready to go and we go out there on the field and we go down have a nice opening drive running the ball really well.”
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