Unlike last season, Dan Lanning seems to be losing his grip on recruitment. With three 5-star and 14 4-star talents, a program that ranked 4th nationally for their 2025 class, Oregon has now slipped to 8th position for their next year’s class. Certainly, losing Jared Curtis to Kirby Smart’s Georgia last month still stings to head coach Lanning. Now, just when everything was going well with another five-star prospect, Ryder Lyons, the Ducks’ weakness may endanger Lyons’ pursuit.

Just last week, HC Lanning and his staff welcomed an impressive group of recruits, creating a significant buzz in college football. The main attraction was Lyons, joined by fellow 5-star EDGE Anthony Jones and several 4-star prospects: Davon Benjamin, Kelvin Obot, Devin Jackson, Deuce Geralds, and Cal commit Tommy Tofi. Huskies commit Dominic Harris and 3-star LB Beau Jandreau also visited Eugene.

This star-studded lineup showed Oregon’s goal to lead, not just catch up, in this recruiting cycle. Lyons was clearly in the spotlight. He received special access to the Ducks’ facilities, wore the team’s gear, and fully experienced Oregon with his family. His sister’s TikTok post perfectly captured their excitement in Eugene. What’s more, Dan Lanning’s recent NIL move is putting the Ducks in a strong position for the No. 5 quarterback of the 2026 class. After his visit to Oregon, Lyons also said that “it’s decision time.” 

With $89 billion worth of Nike co-founder Phil Knight’s involvement, Oregon usually secures major NIL deals and gets its preferred players. However, missing Jared Curtis was a hard hit, revealing some weaknesses in Oregon’s early NIL approach. But with a revenue-sharing model becoming common, things are looking up.

On3 Recruits Justin Hopkins points to this: “Oregon’s been very conservative when it comes to NIL and its dealings, and that’s been a big reason for the slow spring, you know, slow 2025, so I think now with those settlements in place and coaches and ADs getting some clarity, you’re going to see Oregon really look to make that push, and Ryder Lyons is the guy they’ve, you know, there was Jared Curtis and there was Ryder Lyons, and those were the two from the onset, that Oregon really prioritized and highly coveted.”

Jared Curtis made a surprising choice, picking Georgia despite a lower offer. “He took a pay cut coming to Georgia compared to what he was going to get at Oregon,” SI’s Brooks Austin said. “I don’t know the number there, but I’ve been told it’s considerably higher—noticeably higher was the wordage, I believe.” With the Bulldogs, he is expected to earn around $600k to $800k, with a potential rise to $1.2 to $1.4 million. And Dan Lanning cannot let this happen with Lyons.

Ryder Lyons’s phenomenal 2024 season earned him California’s Gatorade Player of the Year award. Despite missing games due to injury, he led Folsom High to an 11-2 record and a Northern California Division I-AA championship game appearance. He completed 211 of 310 passes (68.1%) for 3,011 yards and 46 touchdowns and had only 6 interceptions. He also rushed for 585 yards and 14 touchdowns on 118 carries. With those numbers, it’s no wonder Oregon is pushing for him.

Best part? Oregon isn’t just making empty promises; they have a solid plan for the future with him. “I was just talking about Messiah Hampton moments ago. I’m sure Ryder Lyons would love to throw to a high four-star receiver like Messiah Hampton, and that’s the battle. If you’re looking at Oregon, I think they’re trying to sell a fair NIL package and a lot of weapons around you on the offensive line, at receiver, at running back, everywhere.”

Right now, Oregon and USC seem to be the top choices for Lyons, who is from Folsom, California, and might prefer to stay on the West Coast. However, they aren’t the only playmakers in the mix.

BYU’s strong push for Ryder Lyons’ commitment

BYU’s early commitment to Ryder Lyons, offering him a scholarship in 2021, is paying off. Lyons is poised to make history as a Cougar, potentially becoming just the third five-star recruit to choose BYU in the last 25 years.

This would place him alongside elite company like Ofa Mohetau (2003) and Ben Olson (2002) and among BYU’s top 10 all-time recruits, according to 247Sports. And even Justin Hopkins feels they are right in the mix. “BYU is a very strong program, but I think you look at the two rosters and you would feel a little bit better about Oregon. But BYU has gotten super competitive with NIL and has made a splash so far in this recruiting cycle, and they are a very real threat for Oregon with Ryder Lyons,” Hopkins said.

But even Dan Lanning’s program proved that they aren’t backing out anytime soon. “I know that’s what this weekend was about—trying to show him, ‘Hey, here’s what we’ve got, and here’s what you’d be walking into,’ and I think they’re hoping he doesn’t visit BYU in the end. I guess we’ll have to see about that,” Hopkins pointed out. All that’s left is to see where Ryder Lyons lands.