BYU Signee Ryder Lyons Named California Gatorade Player of the Year

BYU commit Ryder Lyons attends the rivalry game against Utah | BYU Photo

For the second consecutive year, BYU signee Ryder Lyons has been named the Gatorade Player of the Year in California. Lyons, who signed with the Cougars earlier this month, led Folsom High School to a state championship.

Lyons put up ridiculous numbers over the course of his high school career. He had over 10,000 passing yards, 120 passing touchdowns to 23 interceptions, and he added nearly 2,000 yards and 53 touchdowns on the ground. Over the last three years as Folsom's starting quarterback, Lyons has a total TD/Int ratio of 7.5.

In 2025, Lyons had 3,458 passing yards and 36 touchdowns. He also had 15 rushing touchdowns.

Lyons is the first player from California to win back-to-back Gatorade Player of the Year awards since JT Daniels in 2016-2017.

In the official press release, Lyons' high school head coach “Ryder’s on-field accomplishments and recognition are widespread, well documented and need no further acknowledgement,” said Paul Doherty, head coach of Folsom High School. “I’m personally most grateful for Ryder’s genuine humanity and adoration of teammates and coaches, accountability on all fronts football and incredibly grounded nature, all-around.”

Ryder Lyons: The Prospect

BYU officially signed Lyons earlier this month. There had been previous reports that Lyons would not sign on the first day of the signing period. Eventually, he opted to sign in the afternoon with BYU. Lyons committed to BYU over fellow finalists Oregon and USC over the Summer. He also strongly considered Ole Miss, Ohio State, and Michigan.

There is no overstating how important this recruiting win was for Aaron Roderick and his staff. Lyons reshapes the future of not only the BYU quarterback room, but the future of the BYU offense. Lyons will enroll at BYU in January of 2027 after he serves a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Florida. He will participate in Spring camp in preparation for the 2027 football season.

Lyons was coveted by pretty much every school in the country. While he narrowed his focus down to BYU, Oregon, and USC, there were schools like Ole Miss, Ohio State, and Michigan that were pushing to enter the Lyons sweepstakes. Lyons also picked up competing offers from the likes of Alabama, ASU, Auburn, Cal, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, North Carolina, Notre Dame, TCU, Utah, Washington, and Texas A&M in his recruitment.

It was BYU's relationship with Lyons that won out in the end. The BYU staff was able to pitch a path to the playoff, proven quarterback development, NIL, church affiliation, and more.