2024 NFL Draft: Bears Meeting With Top Center Prospect

The Chicago Bears traded for Buffalo Bills interior offensive lineman Ryan Bates this week in a move that had many thinking Bates was targeted to be the team’s starting center in 2024. And while that may be true, GM Ryan Poles and his scouting staff are doing their homework on the top centers in the 2024 NFL Draft.

According to the Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler, the Bears will hold a top-30 visit with West Virginia center Zach Frazier.

Frazier is projected to be a second-round pick in April’s draft. The Chicago Bears currently hold the first and ninth overall picks but don’t select again until No. 75 overall. If Poles wants a chance to select the Mountaineer standout, he’ll have to get creative and trade his way back into Round 2.

“Sawed-off frame with short arms and terrific power once he gets locked in,” NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote in Frazier’s scouting report. “Frazier’s lack of ideal arm length will be a problem for some evaluators and could cause him problems on the next level. Frazier has bulldozer drive strength in his lower half but allows his hands to do too much grabbing and hugging at times. He has quick eyes and a firm punch in pass protection, but because of his lack of length and recovery ability, he’s going to have issues if he’s forced to protect on an island. Frazier has the potential to be a good backup or eventual starter, but he needs to play with consistent inside hands and must stay tight to his targets in order to mitigate his physical deficiencies.”

Many Bears fans assumed Chicago would recoup a top-50 pick for Justin Fields, but the quarterback’s trade market has been soft, to put it lightly. As a result, meetings with players like Frazier may be for nothing more than information gathering.