- BYU secures five-star QB Ryder Lyons, beating Oregon and USC offers.
- Lyons, a dual-threat from California, is BYU's highest-rated recruit since 2003.
- He plans a mission before joining BYU in 2027, boosting the 2026 class.
PROVO — A few months after going to the transfer portal to add Stanford's Bachmeier brothers from Stanford — Tiger and Bear, specifically — BYU football has added a lion to the mix.
Or more specifically, a Lyons.
Five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons announced his commitment to the Cougars on ESPN's Pat McAfee Show Tuesday morning, pledging to BYU over offers from Oregon, USC, Ole Miss, and around 40 other offers, per 247Sports.
The dual-threat signal caller from Folsom, California, is the third-highest rated recruit in the 247Sports to commit to BYU, and the highest since 2003.
He joins a BYU recruiting class that also features four-star Pine View tight end Brock Harris, four-star Lone Peak offensive lineman Bott Mulitalo and former Washington commit Terrance Saryon as the 14th overall member of the Cougars' 2026 class.
Of course, Lyons won't be on campus at BYU until at least the 2027 season. The No. 19 overall recruit nationally in the 247Sports composite rating (and No. 5 quarterback) plans to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — like many incoming freshman in Provo, including Harris.
The marked return to the 2027 class would also enroll Lyons (and Harris) at the same time as McKay Madsen, the four-star 2025 running back signee and track and field star from Clovis, California, who is leaving this summer for a church mission of his own.
But the commitments of Lyons, Harris, Mulitalo and the rest of the Cougars' 2026 class — one that ranks in the top 50 by 247Sports with just 14 commitments — marks a significant moment in BYU football history.
With a 247Sports composite rating of 0.9901, Lyons is the highest-rated BYU commit since offensive lineman Ofa Mohetau in 2003 (former UCLA quarterback Ben Olson committed a year prior, and still ranks as the program's highest-rated commitment with a composite rating of 0.9980.
Recruiting hype doesn't always directly lead to success on the field. But recruiting is always about taking a chance on talent.
Lyons has plenty of talent worth taking a chance on, and a BYU background, to boot.
The Folsom High star was named California Gatorade Player of the Year last fall, when the 6-foot-3 junior completed 68% of his passes for 3,011 yards and 46 touchdowns with just six interceptions and ran for 585 yards and 14 scores while leading Folsom to a 12-1 record and a berth in the CIF Division I-AA North Regional championship game.
In two seasons as a starter, Lyons has thrown for 6,589 yards and 84 touchdowns with 14 interceptions, and ran for 1,538 yards and 38 scores while moonlighting at punter.
He also played basketball, averaging 2.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for a Folsom team that advance to the Nor-Cal Open division semifinals as a junior in 2024-25.
Lyons' father, Tim, was a four-sport athlete in high school who played strong safety at BYU in 1996 and 1997. That didn't make BYU an automatic in his recruiting; his older brother, Walker, was a four-star recruit and the No. 2 tight end nationally by MaxPreps before wrapping up his freshman season last fall after a church mission to Norway.
But BYU stayed close to the Lyons family — the Cougars were among the first to offer a young Ryder a scholarship back in 2021 — with dad Tim and an older sister who recently graduated from the university and currently lives in Utah County.
"Ryder is a great player," said Oak Ridge (Calif.) head coach Casey Taylor, whose team lost 35-7 to Lyons' Folsom last fall, in a statement from Gatorade. "His numbers and wins speak for themselves. His escapability really stands out to us. He scrambles and runs for big yardage, and passes the ball for big plays once you feel you have him down. They go to him when they need a big play and he usually delivers."
