Andy Reid on What Carson Steele Must Do to Make Chiefs’ Roster

Following a solid preseason debut, Reid and Steele spoke about what the UDFA RB must continue to focus on as training camp wraps up.

Aug 10, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Carson Steele (42) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second quarter during preseason at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

At this point in training camp, coaches and even general managers have a fairly solid idea of what their 53-man rosters will look like. While there are still undoubtedly some spots up for grabs ahead of roster cutdowns on Aug. 27, most players have solidified their cases for making the team.

One of the players on the bubble for the Kansas City Chiefs, however, is running back/fullback Carson Steele. With that said, the undrafted free agent pickup continues to gain momentum as the summer rolls on. Coming off his first preseason game – and his first touchdown in the NFL – the hype train is running full steam ahead.

Speaking to the media following Monday morning's practice, head coach Andy Reid outlined what Steele must do to make the cut.

"You saw what he was as a running back," Reid said. "He's learning the fullback spot as needed. We used Noah (Gray) there last year, who can still do that. If he's going to make the team, he's got to be a good special teams player and he's got to be able to carry the football and stay aggressive like he's doing right now. But he had a productive day."

Steele toted the ball four times in Saturday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, finishing with a team-high 29 yards. His 20-yard scamper in the second quarter was one of two impressive runs on the night. He had another featuring a display of steadiness, and his one-yard touchdown was on a fourth-and-1 at the goal line. After breaking the plane of the end zone, Steele celebrated with his teammates.

That type of powerful running is something the Chiefs have sorely missed, despite what Reid alluded to. While Gray pinch-hit as an H-back of sorts a season ago and Isiah Pacheco is an angry rusher in his own right, short-yardage woes plagued Kansas City for most of last season. Even though everyone in attendance in Jacksonville knew what was coming, Steele's touchdown run was a breath of fresh air.

Steele says he was "more of a style of a fullback but wasn't a true fullback" at UCLA. He thinks that having the combination of power and contact balance helps him fulfill his role(s) well. Proving to be versatile has been on his mind for a while.

"Honestly, that was kind of my main goal coming into camp," Steele said. "There was a little bit of talk here and there. My main goal was to try to be like a Swiss Army knife, try to do it all type of deal. Wherever they need to put me in is where I can get in. Like they were saying, implementing the fullback in there as well, being able to block, especially catch out of the backfield too. Not only just being able to run."

One of the main knocks on Steele coming into the draft was his athletic profile. Running a 4.75-second 40-yard dash with a 4.36-second shuttle just isn't conducive to NFL success as a halfback. Being a de facto fullback in Kansas City, though, allows his best traits to be brought out. Special teams, as Reid mentioned, might end up being the deciding factor. Steele admitted it was something he hadn't done since his freshman or sophomore year of college.

If he can make an impact there even a fraction of how he did on Saturday, the Chiefs will have some serious roster math to do.

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