Cougs Daily

BYU Football is Quietly Building a Promising 2025 Recruiting Class

Casey Lundquist

Sep 16, 2023; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake celebrates after the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. BYU won 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 16, 2023; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake celebrates after the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. BYU won 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports / Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
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Over the past few months, all eyes have been on the BYU basketball program as Kevin Young has filled the staff and roster. Meanwhile, Kalani Sitake and the BYU football staff have quietly built the foundation of a very good recruiting class.

Next week is a critical week on the recruiting front for BYU - the most important of the Summer. The Cougars will host a long list of official visitors and they hope to add to their 2025 class over the next 10 days. Before an important week of official visits, here is the 2025 BYU class as of today.

1. Nolan Keeney - QB

Competing Offers: Houston, Boise State, Nevada, San Diego State, Colorado State, Utah State, FCS programs

BYU got their quarterback in the 2025 class when Nolan Keeney committed to BYU. Keeney has ideal size at 6'4 and 215 pounds. In a junior season that was limited by injury, he threw for 2,460 yards and 28 touchdowns while completing 73% of his passes. He averaged an impressive 19.7 yards per attempt. He wouldn't be classified as a true dual-threat quarterback, but defenses do have to account for his running ability. He ran for 500 yards on the ground as a junior.

2. Cale Breslin - RB

Competing Offers: Wisconsin, Indiana, Syracuse, San Diego State, Hawaii, FAU, UConn

Breslin, a three-star prospect from Las Vegas, committed to the Cougars last month. Breslin's recruitment was heating up - he picked up the offer from Wisconsin just a few weeks ago after taking a visit. Instead of prolonging his recruitment and waiting for more offers, Breslin shut things down and committed to BYU. Breslin is a great pickup for running backs coach Harvey Unga. He fits the mold of running backs that have recently had success at BYU. He has the potential to contribute early in his BYU career alongside starter LJ Martin.

Breslin was selected to the First Team All-Southern Nevada Preps team after running for over 1,200 yards as a junior.

3. Blake Bryce - TE

Competing Offers: Arizona State, Stanford, UCLA, Minnesota, Louisville, Kansas, Duke, Cal, NC State, etc.

Legacy recruit Blake Bryce stars on both sides of the ball for his high school. He plays both tight end and defensive end. He has a big frame at 6'5 and 225 pounds and he could end up on either offense or defense at BYU. His versatility and athleticism at 6'5 made him a coveted prospect on the recruiting trail. Should he play tight end, which we think he will, he was the first prospect to commit to new BYU tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride.

4. Tyler Payne - LB

Tyler Payne was the first commit of the 2025 class. He committed to the Cougars early enough in the process that he didn't have any competing offers. Don't let his offer sheet fool you - he can absolutely play.

As a junior in 2023, Payne was named the 6A Region 1 Defensive MVP. He is a violent linebacker that loves contact. On film, his ability to diagnose a play and disrupt what the offense is trying to do really stands out. He has good speed and he has risen up the recruiting rankings during Summer camps.

5. Kelepi Vete - DL

Competing Offers: Stanford, Cal, Baylor, Arizona State, Arizona, etc.

Kelepi Vete preps at Oakland High School in California. He previously played for Fremont High School was the teammate of 2024 BYU signees Naki Tuakoi and Sefo Akuila. Kelepi has played both offensive line and defensive line at the high school level - he is projected to play defensive line in college.

Under new defensive coordinator Jay Hill, the BYU defensive staff has worked tirelessly to improve the talent along the defensive line. Vete is the type of defensive line prospect that BYU will need to compete in the Big 12. He is listed at 6'5 and 250 pounds and he has room to add more good weight.

6. Sale Fano - DE

Competing Offers: Washington State, UNLV, Hawaii, New Mexico, Utah Tech

Fano has good size at 6'4 and he has room to add more weight. 247Sports currently lists him at 210 pounds. Depending on where his weight ends up once he is in a college weight program, he could either play defensive end or outside linebacker. At Westlake, Fano has flashed the ability to get after the quarterback, set the edge against the run, and drop back into coverage. He has room to grow his pass rushing prowess, but his versatility will give BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill a lot of options once he enrolls at BYU.

7. Will Walker - K

Will Walker is a punter from Riverton High School. BYU doesn't often extend scholarship offers to punters, but Walker was deemed worth of a scholarship.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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