UCLA Football: College Football Expert Lists Carson Steele as Top Impact Transfer

The Ball State import has many in Westwood buzzing about his future as a Bruin...

Even the casual college football fan has heard of Carson Steele by now. 

You know -- the physical running back with the cascading blonde locks and a pet alligator named Crocky-J? 

Steele built a bit of a cult following during his time at Ball State. The Indiana native rushed for 891 yards and 6 TDs as a freshman. Last year, as a sophomore, Steele lit up the MAC with 1,556 yards rushing to go along with 14 TDs. Once entering the transfer portal, UCLA wasted no time persuading Steele to head West for a new opportunity. 

UCLA RB Carson Steele:

• transfer from Ball State
• 12 100-yd rush gms (out of 25) in 2 yrs
• 1,556 rush yds (9th most in CFB), 129.7 rush YPG (8th most), 14 rush TDs in 2022
• benches 450 lbs, squats 685 lbs
• owns pet alligator named Crocky-J

CFB’s most interesting man. pic.twitter.com/gagBfTbc26

— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) August 20, 2023

On3.com journalist Jesse Simonton recently published an article in which he made 10 bold predictions for this upcoming College Football season. One of them happened to revolve around none other than Steele. 

According to Simonton, Steele will not only be one of the most impactful transfers in D1 -- but also lead all Power 5 tailbacks in rushing. He elaborated further: 

"Steele will share carries with T.J. Harden, but in Kelly's run-heavy scheme, there are plenty of touches to replace with Zach Charbonnet and Dorian Thompson-Robinson no longer in Westwood. Steele will be a keystone piece of UCLA's offense."

- Jesse Simonton



per on3.com

As Simonson has mentioned, Steele will be in a battle with sophomore T.J. Harden for carries. Harden is a talented player in his own right despite having less experience relative to Steele. 

UCLA's T.J. Harden on fellow running back Carson Steele, who might be pound-for-pound the strongest player on the team: "The guy can lift a whole weight room."

— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) August 14, 2023

With that said, all of the preseason hype has been with Steele. The 6'1" 225-pound rusher has immediately endeared himself to the program. He's said to not only be a very likable guy but also a monster in the weight room. 

UCLA likely will employ a scenario similar to the one it had in 2021 when Charbonnet split carries with fellow NFL back Brittain Brown. Depending on injuries, you could see some sort of 60/40 split between Harden and Steele. With that said, this tandem is among the best on the West Coast -- if not the country.