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Ohio State jumps in the race for 2026 5-star QB Ryder Lyons

hunterby:Hunter Shelton•about 9 hours•

HunterShelton_

Ryder Lyons 10 copy 1
Photo by Chad Simmons/On3

The recruitment of Folsom (Calif.) five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons has gone on longer than most anticipated, as the elite signal-caller looked to be near a decision last year.

Smoke has since cleared around a potential commitment and Lyons is now being greeted by many of the top coaches in the nation. As he takes his time, a new, big-time offer landed in his inbox on Friday.

Ohio State is the latest to offer the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder and 2024 Gatorade California Football Player of the Year:

Quarterback recruiting for head coach Ryan Day and the Buckeyes was easy peasy in the 2025 cycle. Bellefontaine (Ohio) Five-Star Plus+ QB Tavien St. Clair committed back in the summer of 2023, never wavered and signed with the Big Ten program last month.

Things of course won’t be as straightforward for OSU this time around, but it will contend for many of the top available arms in the nation. The Buckeyes are one of six finalists in the recruitment of Nashville Christian five-star Jared Curtis, the No. 1 QB in the 2026 cycle, per the On3 Industry Ranking.

Lyons, while still trending to in-state USC in the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, is giving other schools a look, too. Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore and Oregon head coach Dan Lanning have all been by to visit Lyons this month. The likes of Arizona and North Carolina have also offered in 2025 so far.

Lyons recently took a step back in his recruitment

USC began to trend for Lyons back in the fall and a commitment seemed imminent. That was before he opted to reset things and let his process continue into the new year.

“To be honest everything’s kind of confusing,” Lyons said of his recruitment to ScoopDuck’s Max Torres earlier this month. “I pretty much had a top five coming out and then stuff changes fast.”

After graduating high school, Lyons, the No. 10 overall prospect and No. 3 QB in the cycle, is likely taking a year-long mission trip with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, delaying his enrollment until spring of 2027. He’s planning to graduate high school early this coming December.

The Trojans are still right there at the top for Lyons, though there’s plenty of competition. BYU has legacy ties and is a program to watch moving forward, as are some of the other big-name teams that have jumped in the mix. Ohio State will look to join that group.