The West Virginia Mountaineers football program has added another commitment up front with a pledge from Cincinnati (Oh.) Withrow 2026 offensive lineman Justyn Lyles.

Lyles, 6-foot-5, 270-pounds, also held scholarship offers from Maryland, Tulsa, Ohio, Miami (Oh.), Marshall, Buffalo, Massachusetts, Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green and Ball State, among others.

The Rivals.com three-star prospect received a scholarship offer from the Mountaineers March 5 after a conversation with offensive line coach Jack Bicknell. From that point West Virginia was a serious threat in the recruitment of Lyles culminating in his official visit to campus over the weekend.

That trip proved to be enough to secure his commitment after Lyles previously made official visits to Tulsa and Bowling Green earlier this summer.

The athletic offensive lineman is likely to begin his career at offensive tackle although he does have the versatility to potentially play more than one position at the next level.

Lyles is the latest commitment for a West Virginia recruiting class that has added a significant number of pieces once the calendar flipped to June.

WVSports.com breaks down the commitment of Lyles and what it means to the West Virginia Mountaineers football program both now and in the future.

Skill set:

Lyles is a long, athletic offensive tackle option that has the frame that college coaches are looking for at the next level. He will need to continue to add strength but has the frame to do so and is equipped with good feet and long arms. He is the type of player that has his best football ahead of him as he continues to add strength and refines his technique at the next level with college coaching.

Lyles plays with high effort and his best football is ahead of him.

Fitting the program:

Lyles gives West Virginia an offensive tackle body type after the first two commitments in the class were more of inside options. He will walk into an offensive line room in 2026 that will need to replace at least five departing seniors while a total of four more should be entering their final season of eligibility. That means that almost half of the players currently on the roster will be cycling through Morgantown in the next two years.

Lyles had been on the West Virginia radar for quite some time and made his decision to commit to the program after an official visit where he was able to get a complete feel for the school.

West Virginia has made Ohio a constant when it comes to the recruiting trail and that isn’t going to change at any point in the future so adding a talented lineman from a good program should only help those efforts.

Recruiting the position:

West Virginia has been able to add some key pieces on the offensive line of late and now is up to three commitments in the 2026 class, but the program is still needing to find some more linemen in order to round out the offensive line given the turnover at the position at the end of the season.

The Mountaineers are still targeting a number of other options in order to further round out the room so even with the positive progression there of late there are still needs to fill.

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