Cougs Daily

Five-Star Quarterback Ryder Lyons Commits to BYU Football

Casey Lundquist|
Five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons on his BYU official visit
Five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons on his BYU official visit | Instagram @ryder.lyons

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Exactly 1,300 days ago, the BYU football staff offered quarterback Ryder Lyons his first scholarship. More than three years and 30 competing offers later, BYU's recruiting efforts paid off when the five-star signal caller committed to Kalani Sitake and the BYU Football program. Lyons picked BYU over fellow finalists Oregon and USC. He also strongly considered Ole Miss, Ohio State, and Michigan.

Ryder Lyons: The Five-Star Prospect

Lyons is ranked the 3rd overall prospect nationally in the 2026 class per Rivals and the 13th best in the 247Sports rankings. He is a consensus top five quarterback nationally, and he is the highest-rated player to commit to BYU since five-star quarterback Ben Olson in 2002.

There is no overstating how important this recruiting win is 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. 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.

Ryder Lyons: The Film

So what makes Ryder Lyons such a coveted quarterback prospect? The term "dual-threat" is over-used a little bit in recruiting circles, but it is the only way to describe Lyons' skillset. Over the last two years, he has thrown for over 6,500 yards and run for more than 1,500 yards. He can punish defenses with either his arm or his legs. He was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in California following the 2024 season.

Here's a sample of Lyons' escapability and mobility. He avoids the rush, buys time, then scrambles for one of the more ridiculous touchdowns you will see from a high school quarterback.

In the opinion of this author, Lyons' ability to create off-script is what separates him from other quarterback prospects. A play is never over when Lyons is under center. He has been compared to Zach Wilson, which is a great comparison, but his ability to extend plays reminds me a little bit of Caleb Williams.

Once he creates extra time for plays to develop, he is an accurate thrower on the run.

The downside to that playing style can be turnovers. However, Lyons has been remarkably good at protecting the football in the air. He has has thrown for 84 touchdowns to 14 interceptions as a starter at Folsom High School. He also has 38 rushing touchdowns over the last year, bringing his total TD/Int ratio to 8.7.

There aren't many holes to poke in his game - that's why he's a five-star recruit. If there's one area he can improve, however, it's ball security when he runs. He has fumbled 23 times over the last two seasons, a product of his extending plays.

Importantly, he is also able to sit back and deliver the football from the pocket. While BYU will let him scramble around and create offense, he will also need to deliver the easy throws on time and on target.

Lyons has all the tools to be a fantastic quarterback in Aaron Roderick's offense.

Ryder Lyons: The Impact

With Ryder Lyons in the fold, it's safe to expect a bit of a domino effect on BYU's 2026 recruiting class. BYU should get a nice wave of commitments from players that officially visited last week. They could also be in the market to flip a few players committed to other schools by the time signing day rolls around.

Now that Lyons is in the fold, BYU will have a national spotlight on its 2026 recruiting class. Lyons is to BYU football recruiting what AJ Dybansta was to BYU basketball recruiting.

With that in mind, the next thing for BYU on the recruiting trail will be to capitalize on the momentum. Maybe it's someone they try to flip during the season or some coveted recruits that become available with the coaching carousel.

BYU typically lands 1-2 players late in the cycle that match that description. This year, BYU could have the opportunity to land a few more. Great players want to play with other great players, and that's something BYU will be able to pitch from now until signing day.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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