Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans have been on an absolute recruiting heater, and they show no signs of slowing down. They currently hold the No. 1 2026 class, and the latest prediction will further their lead.
The recruitment of 5-star quarterback Ryder Lyons has gone back and forth a bit, especially after QB Jonas Williams flipped his commitment from Oregon to USC.
For quite some time, the consensus has been that Lyons would eventually follow his brother Walker, the current Trojans tight end, and enroll at Southern Cal. That got a bit murky after Williams committed, and programs such as Oregon, Michigan, Ole Miss, and BYU really upped their recruitment of the talented signal caller.
However, it now seems that the USC Trojans are the favorite once again, as Pete Nakos of On3 has put in a prediction for Ryder Lyons to commit to Lincoln Riley and the Trojans.
USC Trojans Predicted To Land Recruitment Of Ryder Lyons
This would be another huge get for Riley and would set up the Trojans’ quarterback room for the foreseeable future.
While Lyons is a part of the 2026 class, he will be taking his LDS mission directly after high school, so he will not enroll with the program until 2027. Setting up a domino succession plan of Husan Longstreet, to Jonas Williams, to Ryder Lyons.
Lyons previously told On3’s Steve Wiltfong, “Coach [Lincoln] Riley, three first picks in the NFL Draft, three Heismans, it’s familiar, my brother goes there, they’ve been recruiting me for a while, so I don’t think there’s a better QB coach in the country, to be honest. Coach Riley knows what he’s doing.”
What makes the potential commitment of Lyons, and Williams for that matter, so exciting is how well each of them will fit in Riley’s offensive system.
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On3’s Director of Scouting and Rankings, Charles Power, recently said of Lyons, “Ryder Lyons is arguably the top scramble artist in the cycle. The Folsom High standout is at his best when working off-script. Lyons’ play style resembles backyard football. He’s a reactive playmaker with the quickness to make pass rushers whiff in space. Lyons keeps his eyes downfield and makes high-level improvisational plays with his arm and legs.”
Sound familiar?
I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and compare a soon-to-be High School Senior to the great Caleb Williams, but his style of play is certainly comparable. Throw on any game tape, it is electric, similar to what 13 did in the Coli every Saturday Night.
Lyons is the 4th-ranked QB in the 2026 class, according to On3 Industry Rankings. He is the No. 1 player in California and the 10th-ranked overall prospect.
Lyons will be on the USC Trojans campus again on June 20th for his official visit.