Orange Beach (Ala.) tight end Lee Steele is still a long way from making a college decision, but the early shape of his recruitment is already starting to take form.
The 2028 three-star prospect has eight SEC programs standing out right now: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Steele said those schools have moved to the front as he begins sorting through what matters most in the next phase of his process.
For Steele, the evaluation starts with the people around the program.
“The three things that are most important to me are people in the program, that's my first thing,” Steele said. “The second thing is how successful their program has been under the current coach, or how successful the current coach was in the past because there are so many first-year coaches now.
“And the third thing is how I fit in their scheme.”
That final piece is where Steele’s recruitment gets especially interesting. At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, with a basketball background that shows up in his movement skills, he brings a versatile profile that can be used in different ways depending on the offense. During the spring, he made a point of studying how schools deployed their tight ends - whether they leaned on 11 personnel, used multiple tight ends, or moved a hybrid piece around the formation.
“Each of the schools I named, I feel like I've seen a guy who looks like me and is succeeding,” Steele said.
Steele sees himself as more than just a flex option. He said he’s been learning a lot playing inside the box and believes that once he reaches his ideal tight-end weight, he can line up both in and out.
“To be honest with you, I feel like I'm more of a hybrid tight end, I've been learning so much playing inside the box,” Steele said. “So when I get into college and get to that ideal tight-end weight, I can play in and out most definitely. By out, I don't mean playing wide receiver.”
247Sports ranks Steele as the No. 20 tight end in the 2028 cycle. Last season, he caught 25 passes for 341 yards and a touchdown.
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