Welcome all…to the first of hopefully many posts in this series that will include my in depth breakdown of every Ohio State player that becomes a Lion through the draft or UDFA.
Brad made me wait till his fourth draft to make one of these, so I have to make this count.
The Player: Steele Chambers
Position: LB
Breakdown:
A converted RB, Steele Chambers is best known for serving as the starting Will linebacker for the first two years under Jim Knowles (2022-2023) and the last year under Kerry Coombs (2021).
As with many Ohio State defenders, Steele saw an improvement in his play during the 2023 season. However, his personal improvement was relatively low compared to the improvements made by some of our other guys…specifically in the secondary.
Steele’s personal strength is probably with his run defense. I think he’s a good athlete who can make solid tackles in the run game. I cannot personally remember any tackle Steele attempted that he did not come down with, although I’m sure that some whiffs exist on tape.
Steele is also alright defending the pass. Again, he’s a solid athlete, and when he is tasked with sitting in a zone over the middle of the field he can cover it somewhat well. I don’t remember any outstanding pass break-ups he had as a Buckeye, but I know he had several interceptions in his career. He’s also got a very quick reaction time and good hand-eye coordination. His scoop and score at the very end of the Maryland game in 2022 is a play that stands out to me where his athletic ability and reaction ability was put on tape…even though he didn’t do anything spectacular athletically.
While Steele was solid…I wouldn’t exactly call him super good at any aspect of his game. He’s not a super good athlete (at least on film) and he’s not super good at any specific aspect playing linebacker. That could be in large part because he’s only been playing linebacker for three years now, but you’d expect a great part of his game to be present by now if it existed at all.
Steele typically won’t make the crucial error, which is a good trait to have as a player in my opinion. If he’s one thing at all…it’s consistent.
I expect him to maybe make the roster replacing Anthony Pittman, and if he does, he’ll likely be a special teams contributor as he continues to develop as a linebacker. Given that he was starting for the better part of three years, he didn’t see as much work on special teams as he probably would have, but I would call him a good special teams player from what I remember of him.
Does he make the cut?: Maybe? Probably not
Expected contribution: Special teamer