St. Thomas Aquinas’ Tyler Steen gets drafted by Eagles after position change, transfer

No one like the Alabama Crimson Tide was asking much about Tyler Steen when he was playing at St. Thomas Aquinas five years ago.

He only had about a dozen scholarship offers than and only one was from a Southeastern Conference school. The tackle wasn’t even a top 1,000 recruit in the 247Sports composite rankings for the Class of 2018 and didn’t get any All-Broward County recognition from the Miami Herald.

Half a decade and one transfer later, Steen is now headed to the Philadelphia Eagles as the second pick of the third round — No. 65 overall — in the 2023 NFL Draft on Friday.

His development, from unheralded prospect to second-day, is one of the most impressive of this NFL Draft.

Steen originally signed with Vanderbilt and began his career in Nashville as a defensive end, playing a handful of games as a freshman in 2018 before moving to the offensive line as a sophomore in 2019. Once he made the switch, he took off.

Steen started every game he was healthy for during the rest of his time with the Commodores, twice earning All-SEC honors, and then transferred to Alabama last year to play his final season for the powerhouse Crimson Tide.

He was up to the challenge. The 6-foot-6, 321-pound offensive lineman stepped in as Alabama’s left tackle and was a second-team all-conference selection.

Steen, who is from Miami and comes from a military family, began his high school career at Doral Academy before transferring to play with the Raiders as a senior, raising his recruiting profile.

Steen is the fourth South Florida player to be picked so far in this Draft, following NSU University’s Zay Flowers and Northwestern’s Calijah Kancey, who both went in the first round Thursday, and Southridge’s Tyrique Stevenson. He’s also the 34th player to graduate from St. Thomas Aquinas and be drafted.