BYU secured its highest-ranked quarterback pledge since 2002 when four-star recruit Ryder Lyons, No. 49 in the 2026 ESPN 300, announced his commitment to the Cougars over Oregon on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday.
Lyons, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound prospect from Folsom, California, is ESPN’s No. 5 pocket passer in the 2026 class and entered Tuesday as the nation’s top-ranked uncommitted quarterback. While Lyons will sign as part of BYU’s 2026 class later this year, he intends to serve a Latter-day Saints mission after graduation next year and will not formally join the Cougars until the spring of 2027.
Following a string of unofficial visits this spring that included stops at Michigan, Ohio State and Ole Miss, Lyons trimmed his finalists to BYU, Oregon and USC in May and scheduled official visits with each program for June.
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Lyons later canceled his trip to USC, ultimately closing his recruitment with visits to the Ducks and Cougars on consecutive weekends from June 13-22.
With BYU, Lyons lands as a potential quarterback of the future with the program that offered him his very first scholarship offer in December 2021. He is the second-ranked of three ESPN 300 commits in coach Kalani Sitake’s 2026 class.
“They’ve poured a lot into me and made me feel very needed,” Lyons told ESPN. “The love they’ve shown — not just the coaching staff, but everyone there — they’ve shown me just how much they want me more than any other program.”
Lyons, the 2024 California Gatorade Football Player of the Year, would also arrive on campus in 2027 as BYU’s highest-rated quarterback signee since Ben Olson joined the program in the 2002 class.
A skilled improviser who can extend plays with his feet, Lyons exploded in his sophomore season at Folsom High School. He completed 67.9% of his throws for 3,578 yards with 38 passing touchdowns and eight interceptions as a first-year starter in 2023, then followed with another 3,011 yards and 46 touchdowns through the air as a junior last fall. Lyons has also proved dangerous on the ground in the high school ranks, combining for 1,514 rushing yards and 37 rushing scores across two seasons as a starter.
The Cougars have significantly stepped up their NIL efforts across the athletic department in the past year, sources told ESPN. In December, BYU’s men’s basketball program secured the addition of No. 1 overall prospect A.J. Dybantsa, a coveted 6-foot-9 wing who reportedly commanded a high seven-figure NIL deal.
The football program now has its latest cornerstone in a potentially historic 2026 class that includes in-state tight end Brock Harris (No. 32), the program’s highest-ranked pledge since at least 2006, and in-state defensive tackle pledge Bott Mulitalo (No. 105), who flipped from Oregon.
With signatures from Harris, Mulitalo and Lyons later this year, the Cougars would have their first-ever recruiting class with at least three top 300 prospects in the ESPN recruiting era (since 2006).
For coach Dan Lanning and Oregon, Lyons’ pledge to BYU marks the program’s latest high-profile miss in the 2026 cycle. The Ducks were finalists for five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell (Miami) and No. 1 overall quarterback Jared Curtis (Georgia) last month. On June 19, Oregon lost out to Texas A&M in the recruitment of five-star athlete Brandon Arrington (No. 14).
The Ducks are now expected to turn their attention to three-star passer Matt Ponatoski, a two-sport star who visited the program this past weekend, sources told ESPN. Boise State decommit Bryson Beaver is another recent visitor on Oregon’s radar, with Alabama, Auburn and LSU also among those registering significant interest in the late-rising three-star quarterback from Murrieta, California.
Upon Lyons’ pledge, only two of the 18 quarterbacks within the 2026 ESPN 300 remain uncommitted. No. 1 dual-threat passer Landon Duckworth (No. 104) is expected to commit in the coming weeks following official visits to South Carolina and Auburn. Four-star quarterback Oscar Rios (No. 192) is set to choose between Arizona and UCLA on Friday.
