Auburn Tigers Laying Groundwork with 5-Star California Quarterback

The visit of 5-star quarterback Ryder Lyons proves the Auburn Tigers are thinking ahead.

Auburn Tigers recruit led his Folsom (Calif.) team to a state championship as a sophomore. / JOE LUMAYA/SPECIAL TO THE STAR / USA

After the Big Cat Weekend concludes at the end of the month, the Auburn Tigers will roll out the red carpet for a 5-Star quarterback recruit.

Here's the spoiler alert folks, it's not the much hyped and fantasized passer Julian "Ju Ju" Lewis who will be rolling into The Plains however.

That's because the Tigers also have an eye on the 2026 recruitment class, a big priority as they trying to bolster their stable of game changing signal callers.

So instead, Hugh Freeze and Co. will be entertaining strong armed, dual threat 6-foot-3, 215 pounder Ryder Lyons from Folsom, California.  A consensus top-10 quarterback, Rivals lists him as the No. 1 dual-threat in the nation.

Some kind of major indicator of how Lyons intends to handle the recruitment process arrived when he attended the Elite 11 event in Los Angeles and lifted the lid on his mindset.

"I'm just incredibly grateful," Lyons said, via SI's Ducks Digest. "Just gotta be humbled by that---you just gotta keep working.can't really let that get to your head and none of it really matters. Just winning games on Friday's matters to me."

Auburn have stepped up their interest in Lyons with plenty of good reasons, the youngster is rumored to have garnered a mighty 26 offers from college programs across the nation already.

Among the programs who got their foot through the door good and early were the Oregon Ducks. Indeed, the fact they struck when the iron was hot had a real impact on Lyons - particularly as the program now attempts to produce their next version of NFL graduate Bo Nix.

"I really like Oregon a lot," Lyons enthused. "They've shown a lot of interest in me, they were like my fifth offer. So that obviously means a lot.They didn't really care they just offered. They were like 'we don't care if other people are gonna offer you now, we just want to set our tone', so that was super cool."

Last year at Folsom, Lyons kept the scoreboard operators plenty busy, especially after racking up 38 touchdowns and passing for 3,578 yards through the air. Furthermore, the Bulldogs passer ran for nearly 1,000 years and hit pay dirt on a prodigious 23 occasions - he makes his size and strength count.

Making plays with his feet and arm have had scouts turning up in great numbers in the city which is probably best known for staging the iconic prison gig held by country music legend Johnny Cash.

Prior to Lyons burning things up for the Bulldogs, Jake Browning of the Cincinnati Bengals set records playing for Folsom Bulldogs, so notable precedents have been set at the Cali HS.

"There's been a lot of well, good, amazing quarterbacks that come out of Folsom, which makes it cool for me," Lyons told Sacramento's local CBS affiliate.

Off the field, Lyons intends to head off on his own religious mission, as his brother Walker did. Plus there is still work to do in sports and study at home on the West Coast before he heads off to play at college.

All notable advancements he will be making as a person, and as an athlete, but he's a gold standard prospect moving forward who undoubtedly has got everyone drooling already.