Rookie Profile: Carson Steele, Running Back, Kansas City Chiefs
Welcome to the Rookie Profile: Carson Steele, a Running Back from Greenwood, IN who attended Center Grove High School. Steele was a 3-star recruit and attended UCLA.
In 2021, Steele began his collegiate career at Ball State. As a freshman, he appeared in 13 games and put up an impressive stat line. He rushed for 891 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also caught 12 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown.
His sophomore season at Ball State was doubly impressive as he rushed for 1,556 yards and 14 touchdowns. In addition, he also caught 29 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown.
After his 2022 breakout, he transferred to UCLA where he put up solid stats, but nothing like his sophomore season. In 13 games, he rushed for 847 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also caught 17 passes and 163 yards for 2 touchdowns. After that season he would declare for the 2024 NFL Draft.
Measurables
Draft Capital & Landing Spot
Draft Capital- Undrafted Free Agent Signing
- Steele was never regarded as an early-round pick, but he was expected to at least secure late-round draft capital. Falling to the ranks of the undrafted is certainly not ideal, but it doesn’t mean he is completely dead for fantasy purposes. Despite the lack of draft capital, he lands on a roster with a relatively unclear depth chart.
- Isiah Pacheco appears to be the RB1 for the Chiefs, but we said that about Clyde Edwards-Helaire before him who had significantly more draft capital. This isn’t a dream scenario by any means, but his fantasy pulse has a slight heartbeat still.
Landing Spot- Kansas City Chiefs
- As I stated above, the draft capital doesn’t help, but the landing spot in Kansas City could be a win. Even if Paheco maintains his stranglehold on the lead-back role, Steele could easily win the RB2 role and carve out a sizeable workload. this roster sports Edwards-Helaire, Keaontay Ingram, Emani Bailey, and La’Mical Perine on the depth chart above him, so to see him climb to RB2 status on the Chiefs would not be a stretch.
- As we stand today, operating under the assumption that Pacheco is the RB1, Steele is a decent late-round flier in deeper formats to hold in hopes of winning a role in training camp. He is a low-risk option who could find his way to fantasy relevance if the right circumstances present themselves, or he could be cut before the preseason. Only time will tell.
Team Depth Chart
Expected Role: Developmental Running Back
Depth Chart via Fantasy Pros
Fantasy Impact
The fantasy impact here is negligible because his fantasy value to begin with was negligible. He was never viewed as a high-end fantasy asset and this situation would further confirm that stance. He is certainly worth a late-round pick in deeper formats, particularly in dynasty because he does have some talent.
For now, he is a taxi squad stash who will need some things to fall in his favor in order to find his way onto the fantasy map. He is a great target on your watch list.
Check out our 2024 Rookie Rankings Page for a full breakdown of this rookie class.
