USC CB Chris Steele sets lofty goals for junior season

Steele wants to be a unanimous selection as a first-team All-American corner and considered a high draft prospect

Chris Steele reacts after USC miraculously beats ASU in the Coliseum last November.

Adam Grosbard (OC Register)  —  USC cornerback Chris Steele is entering a pivotal year in his college football career. As a junior, he will have the opportunity to leave for the NFL draft following the 2021 season if he likes where he is projected to be selected.

Accordingly, he has established two goals for this season: To be a unanimous selection as a first-team All-American corner, and to be considered a high draft prospect following the campaign.

To reach these goals, he’s focused on two areas for improvement that at their most basic descriptions feel contradictory: To use his hands more and to use his hands less.

The former is easy enough to explain. Steele feels if there’s one deficiency in his game tape, it’s in plays on the ball. He has nine pass breakups in his two seasons at USC, starting in 12 of the 18 games he’s played.

But he has only one interception to his name in college. Steele wants to add at least five to that total this coming season.

“I think I’ve always had like a kind of a bad rep of not making plays on the ball, just having a lot of pass breakups,” Steele said in a press conference Thursday.

As for using his hands less, Steele is also aware he got flagged several times last season for defensive holding or pass interference. His tight, physical style of coverage frequently drew the attention of officials, as did any frustration he expressed in the middle of game-long battles with receivers.

USC cornerbacks coach Donte Williams is working with Steele on the mental aspect of the game during spring camp. Williams preaches to his players that the game is 90% mental and 10% physical, but says Steele can get caught playing 50-50 at times.

“So it’s my job to make sure the game is calmed down and slowed down for them and they’re playing with a level head,” Williams explained, “playing technically first and physically second.”

It’s still a work in process. During a practice last week, Steele got tangled up with a receiver and held onto the teammate’s face mask until they were separated.

But at the next practice, it was Steele who finished the day with an interception of Kedon Slovis on a pass intended for Drake London in the end zone during goal-line work.

“It felt amazing,” Steele said. “The energy at practice was crazy and I just look forward to making a lot of plays like that this year to help this team win games.”

ocregister.com

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