Carson Steele proves the preseason hype was justified for Chiefs

No player has had more hype this preseason for the Kansas City Chiefs than undrafted rookie Carson Steele. Just a little over a week ago I pointed out that the Chiefs have had their fair share of camp sensations that never lived up to the hype and wondered if we should temper our expectations. However, against the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, Steele showed that the hype is justified and that he's now a lock to make the 53-man roster.

Steele has now had a couple of highlight reel worthy runs that are understandably getting a lot of attention. He's also converted a couple of short-yardage touchdowns. He ended the preseason with 11 carries for 87 yards (7.9 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. While those numbers are great and certainly help his case, they aren't the only reason it's safe to write Steele's name on the 53-man roster in Sharpie.

When looking to fill out the depth positions on a roster, the more a player can do, the more valuable they are to their team. When the Chiefs kicked off to start the game vs the Bears, Steele was out with the starting coverage unit. The same was true last week when he recovered a fumble on special teams. A few minutes later when the Chiefs received their first kickoff of this game, Steele was one of the opening returners and had a nice 29-yard return.

Carson Steele has been one of the biggest stories of the preseason for the Kansas City Chiefs and he proved that hype was justified against the Chicago Bears.

Steele played on passing downs again against the Bears as a third-down back and has also seen some plays this preseason as a fullback. That versatility makes him incredibly valuable. In fact, you can make a strong case that you could take away all his carries this preseason and he'd still have a roster spot locked up just off of his ability to play fullback, catch passes and/or pass protect on passing downs, and his special teams play.

Then there's the fact that he's had a few different runs like this:

At this point, it's hard to argue that Steele isn't the clear second-best running back on this roster. While Clyde Edwards-Helaire has more experience and Deneric Prince may be more explosive, Steele has been the one that has been able to break big runs and get the ball across the goal line in short-yardage situations. If the Chiefs need someone to spell Isiah Pacheco in Week 1 versus the Baltimore Ravens, I can't imagine anyone wanting someone other than Carson Steele to get those carries.

I'm not arguing that Steele is going to be the next Derrick Henry. If there are Chiefs fans getting too carried away with the preseason hype, it might be best to take a deep breath. Pacheco is still going to be the clear feature back, and Steele will likely just be a small role player as long as Pacheco is healthy. Still, if Steele is called upon, it's not like he wasn't a very productive college player. During his sophomore year at Ball State, he had over 1,700 combined offensive yards and 15 touchdowns.

Steele's draft profile by Lance Zierlein at NFL.com starts, "Steele is a ball of muscle in human form." Pro Football Focus' draft profile of Steele says, "Steele won't be a home-run hitter in the NFL, but he can be a short-yardage, third-down back with his powerful running style."

So it isn't like this has completely come out of nowhere. While nobody was predicting Steele to be one of the breakout stars of the preseason, he also wasn't a complete unknown who is doing this with no track record. Occasionally, people assume a player won't be able to carry over their success to the NFL, but it looks like the Chiefs may have landed one of the exceptions.

What we know for sure is that Carson Steele lived up to the hype against the Bears and is now a lock to make the Chiefs active roster. Not only will he make the team, he will certainly be a regular contributor on special teams. The only question now is if he can continue to carve out a role on offense. Will that be as a fullback? Will that be as the Chiefs number two running back? Will that be as a third-down back? Will that be as a goal-line specialist?

The fact that all of those possibilities are on the table is proof that Steele is worthy of all the buzz he has received this preseason, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for KC's preseason sensation.