90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Minkah Fitzpatrick, Zach Frazier, Pat Freiermuth

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason workouts ended in mid-June. Next up is the team’s annual training camp, which begins at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe in late July. Leading up to the Steelers’ training camp, we’ll be doing a series of posts looking at the team’s offseason roster, three players at a time. This Steelers roster preview, which also includes projections for each player, will be sorted alphabetically by last name for easy followability. This series is expected to include more than 90 players this year, as the team will be able to bring a total of 91 players with them during the offseason due to the team’s international designation being allowed.

The next three players we’ll feature before the Steelers’ 2024 training camp are Minkah Fitzpatrick, Zach Frazier and Pat Freiermuth.

S Minkah Fitzpatrick: The 2023 season certainly didn’t go the way Fitzpatrick wanted it to, as he missed seven regular season games due to injury. First, it was a hamstring injury that sidelined Fitzpatrick midway through the season, and then later in the year, it was a knee injury that prevented him from playing in three games.

Overall, Fitzpatrick played just 550 regular season snaps on defense in 2023, recording 64 tackles, 1 for loss, and 3 passes defensed. He recorded no interceptions or forced fumbles in 2023, and the Steelers defense certainly missed that aspect of his playmaking. In the Steelers’ only playoff game last season, Fitzpatrick recorded 10 total tackles.

Outlook: Of course, Fitzpatrick will be one of the Steelers’ starting safeties again in 2024. Hopefully, Fitzpatrick won’t be injured again next season like he was in 2023 and miss several games. The Steelers’ defense is very different when Fitzpatrick is on the field, because he is a playmaker who has to be identified by position every pre-snap.

The way it looks so far this offseason, Fitzpatrick will be allowed to play deep a lot more in 2024, as the coaching staff already admitted this summer that he had to play deep way too much in 2023. Assuming that’s the case for Fitzpatrick in 2024, we should expect him to return to his All-Pro form, and that should mean he’ll get a lot of turnovers again, just like he did in 2022. That would be a great trade-off for Fitzpatrick, as he may not have to make as many tackles in 2024.

OC Zach Frazier: The Steelers selected Frazier in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of West Virginia. In college, Frazier, who has extensive wrestling experience, played over 3,200 offensive snaps in four seasons, most of them at the center position.

Last season, Frazier earned a pass blocking grade of 83.8. Additionally, Frazier has allowed just 5 sacks in his four seasons at West Virginia, according to PFF. At the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Frazier, who broke his leg late in the 2023 season, weighs 6025 pounds, is 315 pounds, has 32 1/4-inch arms and 10 7/8-inch hands.

Outlook: If things go the way most speculate this summer, Frazier will be the Steelers’ starting center to open the 2024 regular season. After all, this is the same team that allowed former center Kendrick Green to start immediately as a rookie, and Frazier is twice as good as Green was coming out of college.

Of course, the sooner Frazier gets used to the NFL game, the better. The Steelers really need their second-round pick this year to be a big hit, and that’s why Frazier needs to quickly become a staple in the middle of the offensive line over the next few years.

TE Pat Freiermuth: In 2023, Freiermuth only played in 12 regular season games as he missed five games due to a hamstring injury. Overall, Freiermuth only played 474 regular season games on offense, recording 32 receptions for 308 yards and 2 touchdowns on 47 total targets.

Freiermuth’s best game of 2023 came in Week 11 against the Cincinnati Bengals. In that game, he caught 9 passes for 120 yards on 11 total attempts. In the Steelers’ only playoff game last season, Freiermuth caught 5 passes for 76 yards on 8 total attempts, which was a wonderful end to an overall disappointing year for him.

Outlook: Unless the Steelers sign another key wide receiver before the start of the 2024 regular season, Freiermuth could potentially become the team’s second-best pass catcher behind WR George Pickens. If that does happen, Freiermuth could have his best season yet, catching 70 or more passes for well over 750 yards in 2024. He could also play a major role on third downs in 2024.

One area where Freiermuth could improve is his run blocking, especially when deployed at the end of the offensive line. If he can improve that phase of his overall game, he could very well finish the 2024 season as one of the top five all-around tight ends in the NFL. The Steelers are poised to run the football quite a bit in 2024 out of strong personnel groups. In short, it’s safe to assume Freiermuth will be on the field a lot in 2024. It will be interesting to see if Freiermuth signs a contract extension in the next nine weeks. That’s the expectation, at least.

Previous posts in this series:

90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – Montravius ​​Adams, Kyle Allen, Spencer Anderson
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Grayland Arnold, Calvin Austin III, Anthony Averett
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Kalon Barnes, Tyler Beach, Keeanu Benton
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Beanie Bishop Jr., Chris Boswell, Marquez Callaway
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Jack Colletto, Dylan Cook, Jacob Copeland
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview series – James Daniels, Daijun Edwards, DeShon Elliott
90 in 30: Steelers 2024 training camp preview – Justin Fields, Joey Fisher, Dez Fitzpatrick