Oregon Transfer Tight End Roger Saleapaga Commits to BYU

On Friday, Oregon tight end transfer Roger Saleapaga committed to the BYU football program. Roger is the younger brother of former BYU offensive lineman Keanu Saleapaga. Roger was a prep star at neary Orem High School before he committed to Oregon.

Saleapaga spent two years in Eugene and he will have two years of eligibility remaining. Saleapaga is the second transfer tight end to commit to BYU in this transfer cycle, joining USC transfer Walker Lyons.

COMMITTED 🤙 pic.twitter.com/UCrnvWyuSz
— Roger Saleapaga II (@RogerSaleapaga6) January 17, 2026

Saleapaga was a four-star recruit coming out of high school with offers from all over the country. He signed with Oregon over competing offers from Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Utah, Baylor, Miami, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, and UCLA among others.

Coming out of high school, Saleapaga was primarily viewed as a pass-catching tight end. Last year at Oregon, however, Saleapaga was primarily used as a run-blocking tight end. Oregon had two future NFL Draft picks at tight end and Saleapaga was the third tight end in the rotation. He played 165 total snaps and he was assigned to run block on 111 of those snaps. Saleapaga appeared in all three of Oregon's College Football Playoff games, including nine snaps against Indiana.

Dante Moore with a nice throw to Roger Saleapaga pic.twitter.com/tckTSvb31l
— Austin 🦆 (@deviousduck_) November 15, 2025

For BYU, the addition of Saleapaga is more about his upside as a pass-catcher than his production through two years at Oregon. He had just 3 catches for 26 yards and a touchdown. BYU is banking on helping Saleapaga reach his potential in Aaron Roderick's offense.

4⭐️ tight end/wide receiver and priority #Baylor target Roger Saleapaga (@RogerSaleapaga6) continues to show why he is one of the most wanted pass catchers in the 2024 class. #SicEm

pic.twitter.com/9xNBmP9Ir9
— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) August 19, 2023

The addition of Lyons and Saleapaga is important given the graduation of starting tight end Carsen Ryan. Ryan had a career high 620 receiving yards in 2025 and he was effective as a run blocker as well.

Other Incoming Transfers

Cade Uluave - LB

Cade Uluave is a veteran linebacker that spent the first three years of his career at Cal. Uluave is the highest-rated linebacker in the transfer portal. He is a four-star transfer per 247Sports and he is ranked the 60th best transfer overall.

Uluave started 26 games for Cal over the past three years and he was an All-ACC selection in 2025. Uluave finished his true junior campaign with 100 total tackles including 12 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. He also had 6 PBUs. He was also very effective as a pass rusher, a skillset that BYU will try to use more frequently than his time at Cal. Uluave had 20 quarterback pressures despite rushing the quarterback only 44 times. That 45% pressure rate would have ranked first on BYU's defense in 2025. For Context, Jack Kelly had the best pressure rate among BYU defenders with 29.3%. He also had a team-high 40 defensive stops.

Walker Lyons - TE

The former four-star recruit has spent the last two years at USC since returning home from his mission. Walker Lyons was heavily recruited by BYU in high school, and now his younger brother has signed with BYU. That connection between BYU's coaching staff and the Lyons family made BYU a logical fit for Walker. Additionally, the Cougars will lose starting tight end Carsen Ryan to graduation at the end of the 2025 season, so Lyons is the primary candidate to fill his vacated starting spot.

Kyler Kasper - WR

Kasper is a long, fast wide receiver listed at 6'6 and 220 pounds. Coming out of high school, Kasper was one of the most coveted wide receiver recruits in his class. He was a top 150 prospect and one of the top 25 wide receivers. He held scholarship offers from the likes of LSU, Georgia, Miami, Tennessee, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Penn State, USC, and Ohio State among others. He picked the Ducks and that's where he has spent the first years of his career.

Due to injuries and a redshirt season, Kasper will have two years of eligibility remaining at BYU.

In his time at Oregon, Kasper was behind some talented wide receivers and his production didn't match his high star rating. Frankly, the injury bug hurt his chances as well. He tallied 6 receptions for 77 yards in Eugene.

Paki Finau - OL

Finau signed with Washington out of high school where he spent the first two years of his college career. Finau appeared in 12 of 13 games for Washington in 2025 and he started four games at left guard. He also got some snaps at right tackle. Finau played well, allowing just one quarterback hit and no sacks in 229 pass-blocking snaps. The only quarterback hit allowed came when he was playing right tackle. When he was at guard, he was very good in pass protection.

Finau appeared in three regular season games as a true freshman, preserving his redshirt season. He will have three years of eligibility remaining at BYU and he will be a redshirt sophomore in 2026. He will immediately contend for one of the starting spots at guard where BYU will be replacing Weylin Lapuaho and Ausitn Leausa.

Zak Yamauchi - OL

Zak Yamauchi was a standout at Bishop Gorman High School before he signed with Stanford in the 2023 recruiting class. Yamauchi left to serve a mission prior to enrolling at Stanford. As a true freshman at Stanford in 2025, Yamauchi started three games and appeared in eight.

Yamauchi was still shaking the mission rust and he had a few struggles in pass protection, but he graded out much better as a run blocker per PFF.

JR Sia - OL

Utah State transfer JR Sia has three years of eligibility remaining after starting 10 games at right tackle for the Aggies in 2025. Against Texas A&M in September, Sia was put into the game against a stout Texas A&M defensive line. Sia played well enough to earn his first start the following week against Air Force. He started 10 of the final 11 games of the season.

Sia will have a chance to compete for one of the starting tackle jobs. Assuming Andrew Gentry starts at one tackle spot, the other tackle job will be up for grabs. Given his experience, Sia will probably be the favorite to win that job.

Jake Clifton - LB

A former starting linebacker at Kansas State, Jake Clifton put his football career on hold to serve a mission. After returning home from his mission in October, Clifton entered the transfer portal and committed to BYU.

Jayven Williams - CB

Williams was a rotational cornerback for Mississippi State in 2025. He appeared in all 13 games for the Bulldogs and played over 340 snaps. He started at cornerback in the bowl game against Wake Forest. In mid November last season, Williams had one of the best coverage snaps per reception allowed in the SEC, per Cam Mellor of PFSN.