GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Five-star cornerback Chris Steele committed to the Gators on January 5. Two days later he was on campus enrolled in school and starting his college career at Florida.
Now two weeks into spring practice the freshman corner has had to grow up quickly with starting corner Marco Wilson limited as he continues to recover from his ACL injury and he impressed so far.
“I feel like Chris Steele, he's amazing, he's adjusting well,” safety Brad Stewart said of his new teammate. “I feel like he play with a lot of confidence. I feel like he a boss. He a true freshman, and I like what I see out of Chris Steele."
“I like his play style,” fellow safety Shawn Davis added. “Even though he’s young, he plays to a higher level. I kind of like how he’s playing. We’re going to see what he can do in the future.”
Steele comes in with a lot of accolades being a five-star prospect, but the college game is a different animal. The speed is much faster, the physicality is much bigger and the concepts are much harder to learn.
The young corner understands that though and is doing everything he can to acclimate himself to the college level.
“I think so,” cornerback C.J. Henderson said when asked if Steele is hanging on his hip. “He’s in the meeting room with his note pad open and ready to learn. He’s got his pen out and he’s taking notes out every time. So, I think he’s going to be ready to play.”
Steele has been running with the ones throughout practices and has not shied away from competition with veteran receivers such as Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes, drawing the respect from everybody.
“I got to give it up to Chris Steele,” Grimes said Friday. “He comes out here, he competes with me everyday, he calls me out. Just today he had a pretty nice hit on me, he knocked the ball out. He’s going to be great, and props to him.”
The willingness to put himself out against guys who could have gone to the NFL the year before or have been in the college game for years was on full display on the first day of contact this spring.
Steele stepped up to face Grimes in a one-on-one blocking drill and was welcomed to the SEC the way you would think a freshman would, but Grimes learned a lot about his teammate when he stepped up to face him.
“He’s coming out of high school, he’s going against somebody that’s been in college for a couple years now and has been in the weight room for a couple years now, and to do that, you have to have a lot of manhood,” Grimes said. “You’ve got be a man to do that, and I gave all the props to him.”
Steele has gone through some growing pains as a freshman throughout his first couple weeks of practice picking up the scheme at times but one piece of advice he has already picked up from his fellow corner is helping him greatly.
“As a young guy, you just want to come out here and play, so if you get beat or you’re moving slow because you don’t know the playbook yet, it’s no problem because you’re going to get used to it over time,” Marco Wilson said of his expectations for his new teammate.
Having Wilson and Henderson to learn under is a benefit not many young defensive backs have, but Steele has been soaking in the knowledge like a sponge so far and although he’s in the deep end, he’s not drowning. He’s swimming, and according to safety Donovan Stiner, he’ll be up to Wilson’s and Henderson’s speed in due time.
“I mean yes, it’s a lot, but it’s a good opportunity for him,” Stiner said. “He’s stepping in quick so he gets to get a lot of experience real quick. After a while it won’t be new to him anymore. After a while he’ll be just like Marco and C.J.”
