After one season in Westwood, running back Carson Steele announced Wednesday he will forego his final year of eligibility and enter the NFL draft.
Steele, a transfer from Ball State, ran for a team-high 847 yards on 167 carries and six touchdowns for UCLA last season. He added 17 catches for 163 yards and two scores.
“I want to say thank you to Coach Neu and Coach Hecklinski for helping me develop my craft at Ball State,” Steele wrote as part of a graphic posted to his social media account. “I would also like to thank Coach Kelly and Coach Foster for giving me the opportunity to play football at such a prestigious school like UCLA.”
After a three touchdown performance in an Oct. 21 win at Stanford, however, Steele’s solid start and production dropped off over the final five games of the regular season. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound junior averaged just 49.6 yards rushing and was limited to one receiving touchdown in that span.
Steele’s struggles getting into the end zone on the ground were underscored in a Nov. 11 home loss to Arizona State, which stuffed him three times in fourth-and-short red-zone situations — including once at the goal line.
Steele’s season came to an unceremonious end when he was not spotted during the final week of practices and did not play in the Bruins’ victory over Boise State in the LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium.
UCLA’s 1-2 punch at the position never quite reached its potential, as sophomore running back T.J. Harden eventually took over the bulk of the carries through Steele’s late-season struggles.
Harden capped his strong finish with 105 yards rushing and two touchdowns in place of Steele. He collected 827 yards rushing and a team-high eight touchdowns on nine fewer carries.
Steele’s exit paves the way for Harden to be the unequivocal feature back next season, with Army transfer Anthony Adkins among the returning backups.
Freshman Isaiah Carlson, who appeared in just one game, is a former three-star recruit in the 2023 signing class. In addition, the Bruins will add four-star 2024 signee and local standout Cameron Jones to the mix when he arrives in the summer.
