Carson

Steele

Steele hung on the Chiefs practice squad for most of last season and will now get a chance to stick in Philadelphia. With Will Shipley and Tank Bigsby under contract, it’s hard to see Steele making any sort of fantasy noise without injuries ahead of him.

It’s been done. He’ll be joined by QB Chris Oladokun, FB Carson Steele, WR Hal Presley, OT Chu Godrick, OL C.J. Hanson, DT Coziah Izzard, DT Brodric Martin, CB Melvin Smith Jr, CB Kevin Knowles and FS Mike Edwards.

We’ll always have Week 3 of 2024 — Steele fits as a hybrid RB/FB and Kansas City’s depth chart was weak enough last year that Steele rumbled for 72 yards on 17 carries against the Falcons. He lost two fumbles in his first four appearances and was banished to spot duty after Week 6. Steele had a 47.8 PFF grade in 41 preseason snaps but could resurface elsewhere if he’s not asked on to the Kansas City practice squad.

An UDFA out of UCLA, Steele ended up a fullback who wasn’t, primarily playing traditional running back. Limited to 63 uninspiring touches despite Isiah Pacheco’s nine-game absence with a broken leg, Steele seemed to lose the coaching staff’s trust on offense after losing two fumbles across his first four appearances. Although he remains eight months shy of his 23rd birthday, Steele did not demonstrate enough rookie upside to guarantee his 53-man roster spot for 2025.

Steele was unable to make magic happen in this one despite leading the Chiefs in touches. Steele has proven himself as a capable ball carrier with Patrick Mahomes under center but playing well in an offense led by Carson Wentz is a far different ask. Steele will not be fantasy-relevant following the Chiefs’ first-round bye.

If you were curious: Hunt’s previous career-high in targets was nine, and he had not been targeted more than seven times in any game since the novel coronavirus hit. Denver’s defense came after Patrick Mahomes with such gusto that he was forced to make Hunt a checkdown target, and a 26-yard catch-and-run after avoiding the sack narrowly edged Hunt over Travis Kelce as the No. 1 Chiefs receiver by yardage on the day. Non-Hunt running backs received two carries on the day in 19 snaps, almost all of which were on passing downs. Hunt will be a volume low-end RB1 play against the Bills next week.

Steele remains a mid-tier bench stash given Kareem Hunt’s rushing inefficiency but Steels offers no real standalone value. He is a capable tackle-breaker but is a fullback at heart. He should not be started against the Buccaneers in Week 9.

Steele again played well behind lead back Kareem Hunt. Samaje Perine had two rushing attempts and caught his only target. If Hunt were to miss time, Steele and Perine would likely split the team’s backfield workload.

Edwards-Helaire is eligible to return for the Chiefs’ Week 5 game against the Saints. He enters a crowded, yet starless backfield and can be speculatively added to fantasy benches. Kareem Hunt likely beat out both Carson Steele and Samaje Perine for the lead role last week and it remains unclear as to how Edwards-Helaire will fit into the rotation, though his experience in the system is a positive.

Beat writers don’t write long pieces about guys they don’t expect to play, and Taylor writes that Carson Steele will be the primary backup “if that happens” while Samaje Perine would remain the third-down back. Hunt looks like a low-end RB2/RB3 for Week 5. Hunt reportedly endeared himself to the organization in his free-agent visit by “demonstrat[ing] appropriate accountability about his mistakes earlier in his career.” It sure looks like Hunt could keep the lead back role in Kansas City for most of this year as Isiah Pacheco works back from his fibula surgery.