3 Chiefs Who Have Locked Up a Roster Spot Before Preseason Finale
2. Carson Steele, Running Back
The Kansas City Chiefs desperately needed to find some type of secondary weapon at the running back position behind Isiah Pacheco, and they may have stumbled upon something special in Carson Steele.
Just what the Chiefs needed, right? Another fascinating offensive weapon...
Perhaps no player on the Chiefs' roster has made more waves this offseason than Carson Steele, an undrafted free agent out of UCLA whose collegiate career started at Ball State. Steele racked up three straight seasons with over 1,000 yards from scrimmage at the collegiate level before making the jump to the NFL.
You better believe the Chiefs have been giving him some first-team reps in the preseason for something other than just a feel-good preseason story. This guy is going to be a factor for the offense:
Andy Reid on Carson Steele: "He got a lot of good snaps. He ran hard, and then he was out on most of the special teams in that first half. He's doing well. He's growing. That's what we wanted to see. We wanted to see him get in there with the 1s and see what he could do."
— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) August 18, 2024
A good training camp or preseason story is one thing. Carson Steele offers the Chiefs something for the offense that they desperately need. Isiah Pacheco can certainly break tackles, but Steele is the type of big-body running back who can help wear defenses down. We have seen the Chiefs get super creative on third-and-short situations or fourth-and-short situations.
Frankly, I felt like that was one area for Andy Reid last year where he may have gotten a little too cute throughout the course of the season. Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with just blasting the ball up the middle with a 215-pound running back who consistently breaks tackles and falls forward.
You're not going to have a lot of negative running plays when you give Carson Steele the football. He may not be ripping off a ton of 40-yard runs but he's going to help the Chiefs' offense as well as their special teams in 2024.