Bruce Feldman: Carson Steele blew UCLA away with lower body strength in weight room

UCLA running back Carson Steele has made quite the impression since arriving this offseason as a transfer from Ball State. Standing 6-foot-1 and 233-pounds, Steele has shown his strength early on in the weight room, standing out among his teammates.

The Athletic‘s Bruce Feldman recently ranked Steele at No. 21 on his “College football Freaks List” ahead of the 2023 season. Joining On3‘s Andy Staples, he revealed what it is about the running back that earned him that spot.

“He’s not the biggest back in the running back room,” Feldman told Staples. “They have two other guys who are actually bigger. But he is super strong. A 450-pound bench guy. Squats almost 700 pounds. He’s explosive. Vertical jumps 35 inches, hits 21 on the GPS and there’s some great stories about him when he first transferred there. He was blowing people away in the weight room with what he could do and just how physically strong especially his lower body is.

“Chip Kelly loves this guy and I think he was like 95th on the freaks list last year. He’s in the top 25 now and he’s a good fit for what they want to do. They wanna be physical. He’s a hammer. Don’t let the beach look of his headshot fool you.”

Steele is coming off of a strong sophomore campaign that helped him to become a hot commodity in the transfer portal. He ranked as the No. 1 running back in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings, and Feldman wrote that UCLA was “elated” to land him not only for his strength, but his speed as well.

“He made the Freaks List last year before having a monster season for Ball State, rushing for 1,556 yards,” Feldman wrote. “Not bad for a guy who only had one FBS scholarship offer. The Bruins were elated to get him in the transfer portal. …His wheels have been impressive too, clocking 20.96 MPH and vertical-jumping 35 inches.”

UCLA boasted one of the country’s top ground games in 2022, ranking sixth in the FBS with 237.2 rushing yards per game. The Bruins lose leading rusher Zach Charbonnet (1,359 yards, 14 TDs) to the NFL, which should open the door for Steele to take control of the backfield.

Along with Steele, TJ Harden also returns after averaging 7.4 yards per carry as a true freshman. Those two should combine to compliment each other with their speed and power as UCLA aims to continue to lean on its rushing attack in 2023.

Steele is set to make his Bruins debut on Sept. 2 against Coastal Carolina.