Tyler Batty Could Be BYU’s Next Big Thing At Edge Rusher After Three-Sack Game

PROVO, Utah – Freshman Tyler Batty is BYU’s first scholarship player from Payson High in over 40 years. Payson isn’t known for being a recruiting hotbed, but in the case of the 6-foot-5, 261-pound Batty, he’s not your typical Payson product.

On Friday night, Batty was one of the stars during No. 22 BYU’s 45-14 rout of Louisiana Tech. Batty had a three-sack performance in only his second game as a Cougar.

Batty was a huge pickup when #BYU landed him over Utah in the class of 2017. Kalani Sitake has been high on him since he arrived on campus this past January. (Greyshirted last year)

He's a rising star off the edge for #BYU. #LTvsBYU #BYUFootball @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 3, 2020

Through two games, Batty has four sacks on the year and is creating havoc in opponent’s backfields. It begs the question, are we looking at BYU’s next great edge rusher?

Head coach Kalani Sitake believes so.

Kalani Sitake is expected about the potential of Tyler Batty

“He’s going to be really good,” Sitake said after Batty’s three-sack game. “The hardest part about Tyler Batty is that I had to wait for his mission to be complete. Really excited to get him back here; he’s got a lot of football ahead of him. Tough kid raised really tough, loves playing football and has a ton of energy.”

The wait was long for Sitake to get Batty on his roster. Batty was a three-star recruit in the class of 2017 and picked the Cougars over rival Utah who had offered him after the Cougars did when he was an under-the-radar recruit.

.@Tyler_Batty2 has a bright future!! pic.twitter.com/4yczJhpTCm

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) October 3, 2020

After graduating from Payson High, Batty served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Madrid, Spain. Two years flew by, and then Batty returned home in the summer of 2019 before grey shirting last fall. He enrolled this past January, and back on Signing Day in February, Sitake pointed out Batty as a standout from the group of mid-year enrollees.

A newcomer to watch for #BYU in 2020 is true freshman defensive lineman Tyler Batty.#BYUFootball @kslsports https://t.co/vbr7JGeqYk pic.twitter.com/OUALLvE7ms

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) June 4, 2020

Batty didn’t participate in the six spring practices this past March due to an illness (not COVID-related), so his first FBS practice reps took place in fall camp two months ago. Now he’s tied for second in the nation for most sacks by any college football player this season.

“Batty has been a guy that’s been strong and ready to roll from the very beginning. Really excited about him … we knew we were getting something special when we recruited him,” Sitake said.

BYU’s three-man rush along the defensive line is working

With Batty’s three on Friday, BYU as a defense is up to 12 sacks on the season. Matching the total of sacks they had through 12 regular-season games last season. BYU’s three-man rush has been working well early on this season. It’s not just Batty either. Khyiris Tonga, Zac Dawe, Bracken El-Bakri, and Seleti Fevaleaki all have sacks from the defensive line this year.

“Really excited about a lot of things I’ve seen from the defensive front with Khyiris, Bracken, Zac, we’ve got a lot of guys that can play. Lorenzo [Fauatea], seen some things that Caden [Haws] is doing too and Earl Mariner. So we have a good group of guys … a lot of that is because the leadership we are seeing from the defensive line, give credit to Coach Tuiaki. He knows what he’s doing with the defensive line. That’s a hard thing to do to create pressure with a three-man rush, and we were able to get it done.”

Batty and BYU’s defensive line return to action next Saturday at LaVell Edwards when the Cougars host UTSA in Provo.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.