Steelers All 90: CB Chris Steele Has Upside, Faces Tough Roster Battle
All 90 is a Pittsburgh Steelers Now series profiling each of the 90 members of the Steelers 2022 offseason roster.
26 • Chris Steele, rookie CB, USC
6-foot-1, 190 pounds, 21 years old
Acquired: Signed by the Steelers on April 30, 2022 as an undrafted free agent.
Last season: Played in 11 games for USC, making 33 tackles, two for a loss, one sack, two interceptions, a forced fumble and three passes defended. He was an All-Pac 12 selection for for the second time in his career before leaving the Trojans after just three seasons.
College: Steele started as a true freshman in 2019 without the benefit of spring practice, as he had originally enrolled early at Florida but then transferred to USC. He continued in the role through the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when he had 26 tackles, an interception and four passes defended in just six games.
Camp outlook: The Steelers have six experienced cornerbacks on the roster, plus safety Tre Norwood that plays a good bit of slot corner, so it looks like a tough position for an undrafted rookie to break through. But there definitely seems like there’s a path to a practice squad role and with Justin Layne, Cam Sutton and Art Maulet all set to be free agents after the season, a good performance on the practice squad could put Steele in line to make the 2023 roster. In competition with Steele for that role is 2021 practice squad member Linden Stephens and fellow undrafted rookie Carlins Platel.
Steele could help his cause by showing some versatility. Mostly an outside cornerback at USC, showing the ability to play in the slot, at safety, or on special teams could go a long way towards helping his roster chances.
Future: Steele signed a three-year contract that will pay him $705,000 in base salary this season. He also received a $12,500 signing bonus.
The rest of the 90:
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