As Folsom star QB Lyons commits, where does he rank in Sacramento-area history?
A five-star prospect and rising senior already twice named Sacramento Bee football Player of the Year, Folsom quarterback Ryder Lyons revealed his verbal commitment Tuesday: he’s headed to BYU.
At 6-foot-3, 235-pound Lyons has already compiled a stellar resume. He finished 2024 with 3,011 yards through the air and 46 passing touchdowns, plus 585 yard and 14 scores on the ground, leading the Bulldogs to the Northern California Division I finals. Folsom has a state two CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championships and a CIF state crown with Lyons under center.
The story of his Lyons’ career is still being written. Here’s a peek at the greatest quarterbacks in Sacramento-area history in factoring in high school, college and professional success, with senior season of high school listed.
Jake Browning, Folsom, 2014
An ace at progression reads, timing, touch, poise and leadership as a three-year varsity starter for Folsom, the 6-foot-2 Browning dazzled with a mind-boggling and national prep-record 229 touchdown passes, including a prep-record 91 as a senior for a 16-0 team, and a state-record 16,775 career passing yards for three CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship teams, punctuated by a CIF state winner as a senior with a state-record 16 running clocks.
Browning was a three-time Bee Player of the Year winner for teams that went 14-1, 14-1 and 16-0 before he became the winningest quarterback in Pac-12 history with the Washington Huskies and the program’s all-time passing leader.
He is now preparing for his eighth NFL season and third with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Randy Fasani, Del Oro, 1996
The nation’s No. 1 prep quarterback recruit in 1996, a Bee Player of the Year and a prep All-American by multiple publications, the 6-3 Fasani passed for 5,299 career yards an 53 touchdowns in winning two section crowns for Del Oro before playing at Stanford, including two seasons as the starter.
He played two seasons in the NFL.
Ryder Lyons, Folsom, 2025
A current quarterback on an all-time QB list? Well, yes. Lyons may emerge as this region’s finest signal caller if he has a monstrous senior season and rolls on in college.
The No. 1-rated player in the state for any position according to 247 Sports, Lyons is this region’s first five-star passer since Randy Fasani of Del Oro in the mid 1990s with the unique ability to extend plays, to make all the throws, to run like a truck and to compete.
Ian Book, Oak Ridge, 2015
The 6-foot Book was a three-year starter at Oak Ridge, engineering comeback wins over Grant and Jesuit with poise and precision, and then he became the winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history. His 72 career touchdown passes are second in Irish history.
Book is preparing for his fifth NFL season, having won a Super Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles as a reserve last season.
Robbie Bosco, Roseville, 1980
The 6-2 Bosco starred in high school — and then really became a star in becoming one of the greatest quarterbacks at quarterback-rich BYU. He led the nation in passing yards in 1984 with 3,875 plus 33 touchdowns, coming third in the Heisman Trophy voting in leading the Cougars to the national championship with a 13-0 season.
In 1985, he set then-BYU records with 4,273 yards passing and 30 TD passes, finished third in the Heisman voting again and bowed out with 10 NCAA records before playing two seasons in the NFL.
Chad Elliott, Grant, 1996
The 6-2 Elliott steered Nevada Union High to the 1994 CIF section Division I championship and played his senior season at rival Grant, where his touch and confidence were paramount in a D-I section title season in which he fired 47 touchdowns to three interceptions.
He was the first player in regional history to quarterback two different schools to section titles. Elliott played a bit at Arizona State, was an All-American at American River College in Sacramento and signed with Clemson but did not play.
He logged eight Arena Football League seasons and passed for more than 20,000 yards and 400 touchdowns.
Troy Taylor, Cordova, 1985
The 6-4 Taylor was the area’s first prolific dual-threat quarterback, passing for 3,000 yards and rushing for 1,000 in leading the section’s first 14-0 team for the famed Lancers of the 1980s, earning Bee and Northern California Player of the Year honors.
Taylor started four years at Cal, setting a bounty of school passing marks, including 8,126 yards. He logged two NFL seasons before his coaching tours at Folsom High, Sacramento State and Stanford, among others.
Aaron Garcia, Grant, 1987
The 6-1 Garcia set regional and state passing records held by John Elway in an era when most teams ran the ball, passing for 5,904 yards and 67 touchdowns his final two seasons, earning Bee Player of the Year honors as a senior.
He played at Washington State and Sacramento State, starting three years, and he tossed an all-levels professional record 1,336 career touchdown passes over 19 seasons in Arena Football. He now coaches Destiny Christian Academy of Sacramento.
Dano Graves, Folsom, 2010
The Bee’s Player of the Year and just the second area player to earn National Player of the Year honors (the first being running back Kevin Willhite of Cordova in 1981), Graves was the driving force behind Folsom’s first CIF state title team, when he passed for 62 touchdowns and ran for 23 more for a then-state record 85 TDs in a single season. As a junior he passed for 4,75 tads and 66 scores.
He started two years at Cal Poly, once leading the Big Sky Conference in passing efficiency.
J.T. O’Sullivan, Jesuit, 1996
The 6-2 O’Sullivan led Jesuit to its first CIF section crown in 1995, going 13-0-1, and he was a three-year starter at UC Davis. He set UCD career marks for 96 touchdowns and 10,745 yards.
He logged seven NFL seasons, including starting some games for the 49ers in 2008.
Virgil Carter, Folsom, 1963
The 6-1 Carter was Folsom’s first great quarterback and first notable and prolific passer at BYU, where he set six national, 19 conference and 24 school records while earning academic All-American honors, and his 50 career touchdowns as a three-year starter were huge numbers in a run-heavy era.
Carter played in the NFL for seven seasons, including some starting seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals under offensive coordinator Bill Walsh in running the first West Coast Offense schemes that Walsh would use to win three Super Bowls with the 49ers.
Chris Vargas, Woodland, 1988
The 6-foot Vargas dazzled in high school and then really dazzled in college, earning the nickname of “Magic” for his ability to engineer comebacks with the Nevada Wolf Pack, where he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.
In 1991 against Weber State, Vargas engineered the biggest comeback in NCAA history, rallying from a 35-point deficit for a 55-49 win, among many spirited efforts, and he passed for 4,265 yards and 34 touchdowns in 1993 before starting in the Canadian Football League for five seasons.
Ryan Dinwiddie, Elk Grove, 1998
The 6-1 Dinwiddie was the leader of Thundering Herd teams that Thundered to CIF section Division I championships in 1997 and ‘98, going a combined 27-1, and he started three years at Boise State, setting a career passing efficiency mark that was later broken.
He was on the Chicago Bears roster in 2004 and 2005 and played seven seasons in the CFL, where as a head coach, he won Grey Cup championships in 2022 and 2025.
Craig Penrose, Woodland, 1970
The 6-3 Penrose guided the finest Woodland team in school history, the 10-0 team of 1970. He set numerous passing marks at San Diego State where he later was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.
Penrose logged five NFL seasons, including as a backup for the 1977 Denver Broncos who reached Super Bowl XII, and two in the USFL.
Khari Jones, Center, 1988
The 5-11 Jones is still the best quarterback to come out of Center High who became the first UC Davis passer to have 50 career touchdown passes in going 17-2-1, later getting inducted into the UCD Aggies Hall of Fame.
He was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player in 2001, leading Winnipeg to the Grey Cup final. He had 107 touchdowns from 2000-02 in the CFL, setting scores of Winnipeg records, and he has coached in the CFL since 2009.
Caden Pinnick, Del Oro, 2023
The 6-foot Pinnick may soar up this list if he stars at UC Davis, where he will start at quarterback this fall for a program big on producing record-setting passers. Pinnick dazzled as dual-threat star at Del Oro in emerging as the program’s best QB prospect since Randy Fasani.
Pinnick in two seasons at Del Oro passed for 4,625 yards and 57 scores, and ran for 657 and 13 scores.
Seneca Wallace, Cordova, 1998
The 5-11 Wallace hurt defenses with his arm and legs, including in high school, at Sacramento City College and at Iowa State from 2001 and 2002 where he was in the running for a Heisman Trophy his senior season, including the famed “The Run” play in which he ran backward 32 yards to extend a play and turned it into a 12-yard scoring run. It was estimated that Wallace ran 135 yards on an official 12-yard run.
Wallace logged nine NFL seasons.
Honorable mentions: Tony Eason of Delta and Ken O’Brien of Jesuit in 1977 were promising prep quarterbacks who did not earn all-league honors but starred in college at Illinois and UC Davis, respectively, and were first-round NFL picks in 1983 before having solid NFL careers.
This story was originally published June 24, 2025 at 12:22 PM.