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BYU Football Transfer Portal Superlatives: Crown Jewel, Cornerstone, and More

A closer look at BYU's incoming transfer portal class
Casey Lundquist|
BYU tight end Walker Lyons at Spring Camp
BYU tight end Walker Lyons at Spring Camp | BYU Photo

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The BYU football program brought in one of the smallest transfer portal classes of the Power Four schools. Despite ranking low in quantity, BYU expects high quality production from the transfers they brought in.

In this article, we will hand out some superlatives for BYU's transfer portal class.

The Crown Jewel: Cade Uluave

Cade Uluave was ranked the 32nd best transfer prospect in the transfer portal, and he was the highest ranked linebacker in the transfer portal. Uluave was an all-ACC selection last season and he was pursued by some of the top programs in the country.

Uluave will be one of BYU's best players on defense in 2026. Bruce Mitchell told BYU On SI that Uluave is the fastest mike linebacker he's ever had to block, and Kelly Poppinga called him one of the fastest players on the team.

Uluave has NFL potential and he could reach another level under Kelly Poppinga. Uluave was one of the most efficient pass rushers from the linebacker position in 2025. However, he was rarely used to get after the quarterback. We expect him to be used as a blitzing linebacker a lot more often in Poppinga's scheme.

The Cornerstone: Paki Finau

Paki Finau established himself as BYU's starting left tackle during Spring Camp. In terms of positional importance, few positions are more important than left tackle. Therefore, Finau is arguably the most important transfer addition.

Finau primarily played guard at Washington, so when he starts at left tackle against Utah Tech, it will be his first career start at left tackle. BYU believes tackle is Finau's natural position. After all, that's what he was recruited to play in high school.

Finau has three years of eligibility remaining. If he is effective as a left tackle, he could be the left tackle at BYU for years to come.

Most Intriguing Addition: Walker Lyons

Walker Lyons has been on BYU's radar for years. Finally, Lyons is in Provo and is in line to start at tight end. Lyons was effective at USC last season, and we expect him to take on a much larger role for the BYU offense in 2026.

Lyons is an effective blocker, can make contested catches, and is underrated after the catch. Lyons is the most intriguing addition because of what he could bring to the BYU offense. Like Carsen Ryan last season, we expect him to impact both the run game and the pass game. However, he has a higher ceiling as a pass-catcher.

The Breakout Candidate: Roger Saleapaga

Sticking with the tight ends, Roger Saleapaga is our breakout candidate. Saleapaga was primarily used as a blocking tight end at Oregon last season. We expect him to have a breakout season as a pass-catcher.

In fact, we believe Saleapaga will have more receptions in his first two games at BYU than he had in two seasons at Oregon. Saleapaga had just three catches for the Ducks. It wouldn't be surprising to see him surpass that total in the season opener against Utah Tech. Saleapaga was one of Bear Bachmeier's favorite targets, if not his very favorite target, during Spring Camp.

Highest Upside: Kyler Kasper

Kyler Kasper was one of the most coveted wide receivers in his recruiting class when he was coming out of high school. He picked Oregon over offers from Ohio State, Penn State, USC, Notre Dame, Miami, LSU, Georgia, Colorado, and Arizona State among many others.

Kasper is a true 6'6 and he moves like a much smaller wide receiver.

His production, or lack thereof, was limited by injuries at Oregon. If he can stay healthy, he has incredibly high upside. It's his upside that BYU was hoping to tap into when they signed him.

The Hidden Gem: Jayven Williams

BYU's cornerback duo of Evan Johnson and Tre Alexander has garnered a lot of preseason hype and for good reason - those two have the potential to be one of the better cornerback duos in BYU history.

Behind those two, we expect Mississippi State transfer Jayven Williams to play a big role as well. Mory Bamba played nearly 400 snaps last season, and we expect Williams to step into that role in 2026.

Williams was effective for Mississippi State last season outside of the rivalry game against Ole Miss. When we look back at the 2026 transfer class, we believe Jayven Williams will be the hidden game.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of BYU On SI. He has covered BYU athletics since 2020. During that time, he has published over 3,500 stories that have reached millions of readers.

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