BYU's New Tight Ends Are Already 'Two of the Best Players On the Team'

After the 2025 season, BYU lost starting tight end Carsen Ryan to graduation. The Cougars also went in Spring Camp looking to replace their top two wide receivers in 2025 in Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston. Who would replace that receiving production was a top storyline heading into Spring Camp.

To fill some of the needs on BYU's roster, the Cougars added a pair of tight ends from the Big Ten back in December: USC transfer Walker Lyons and Oregon transfer Roger Saleapaga. They also added Oregon wide receiver transfer Kyler Kasper.

Through the first half of Spring Camp, the two transfer tight ends have been standouts. They look poised to not only play a lot of snaps for the BYU offense, but they also appear capable of replacing Carsen Ryan's production.

Both Lyons and Saleapaga have been heavily targeted by Bear Bachmeier. BYU offensive coordinator called them "two of the best players on our team" earlier this week.

"Super impressed with Walker," Roderick said. "He is a really complete player. I would say. He's a good blocker. He's an excellent receiver. He's smart. You can just tell he's been well coached and played a lot of good football, and he's going to be a big part of our offense and so is Roger. Both of those guys are two of the best players on our team for sure."

Walker Lyons

When Walker Lyons committed to BYU as a four-star transfer from USC, it was anticipated that Lyons would slide right into the starting lineup. Lyons has lived up to the hype so far in Spring Camp. Lyons is faster than he gets credit for, and he is able to use his body to shield defenders and create throwing lanes for Bear Bachmeier.

Bear Bachmeier finds Walker Lyons in the end zone for the touchdown.

The perfect placement beat good coverage by Evan Johnson.

It might be time to buy stock in the BYU tight ends if you haven't already. pic.twitter.com/vyNhsbqObg
— Casey Lundquist (@casey_lundquist) March 11, 2026

Lyons has a chance to produce the kind of numbers that Carsen Ryan did in 2025: 620 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns.

Roger Saleapaga

While it was easy to see how Walker Lyons would fit in BYU's offense, it was less clear how Roger Saleapaga would fit into BYU's scheme. Saleapaga was used largely as a run blocker at Oregon. Coming out of high school, he was primarily a receiving tight end.

So far at BYU, Saleapaga has been running with the first-team offense alongside Walker Lyons. He has also looked like the pass-catching threat that he was at Orem High School.

Bear Bachmeier finds Roger Saleapaga on day four of Spring Camp.

The two transfer tight ends have consistently been mentioned as standouts. pic.twitter.com/IrhesiUzfE
— Casey Lundquist (@casey_lundquist) March 7, 2026

BYU's question marks at wide receiver might be answered by the emergence of the two new tight ends.