Hopper Eager to Learn, Play Faster While Adjusting to NFL

Green Bay Packers third-round draft pick Ty’Ron Hopper has been making the most of the opportunity to learn behind multiple veterans.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper runs through drills during rookie minicamp on Friday, May 3, 2024, at the Don Hutson Center in Green Bay, Wis. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Ty’Ron Hopper played defensive back during his sophomore and senior seasons of high school. Now a linebacker with the Green Bay Packers, Hopper still has some of that DB DNA.

It starts with his mentality. He’s eager to learn in a linebacker room filled with veteran experience. To improve his game, he brings a cornerback mentality to the practice field. Each rep is a new opportunity to stack on top of the previous one, but he avoids getting rattled or distracted by a mistake or success.

“Just flushing it, just keeping that next-play mentality,” Hopper told Packers On SI. “Whether it's a good play or a bad play, I'm just focused on the next play.”

His play at his former position is evident in his play style, too. He’s a rangy defender who has the speed to drop back in pass coverage. In Green Bay’s Family Night practice Saturday, Hopper nearly went step for step in coverage with wide receiver Christian Watson about 30 yards down the field.

Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams (33) breaks up a pass intended for wide receiver Christian Watson (9) during Family Night on Saturday, August 3, 2024, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Hopper is a part of the new model of off-the-ball linebackers shaping the league. Thanks to human evolution, linebackers are expected to be athletic enough to cover quicker receivers, tight ends and running backs. Hopper believes his time at defensive back shaped him into the player he is now.

“I felt like it helped me with my movement, my breaks and drops and things like that. I feel like it was very beneficial to the type of style I play now," he said.

Hopper, selected in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Packers, racked up 55 tackles in 10 games for Missouri in 2023 and was a finalist for the Butkus Award for the best linebacker in college football. In his two seasons at Missouri, Hopper played in a 4-2-5 scheme as a weak-side linebacker. Under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, Green Bay is adopting a scheme that Hopper feels comfortable with.

“I feel like they did a great job of preparing me for now,” Hopper said of his time at Missouri. “With the defense being multiple. Being able to play a lot of Cover-3 progressions. Five zone, four zone, things like that.”

While learning the wrinkles of an NFL scheme, Hopper is focused on playing fast but intentionally. Hafley has emphasized the importance of teaching the scheme to players in a way where they can have a full understanding of the defense while still bringing energy and speed.

“I love playing in the defense," Hopper said, "just basically trying to play faster and faster every day just trying to understand what everybody is doing around me and things like that just to help me with my game.”

Hopper has mainly lined up at middle linebacker in the base 4-3 package throughout the offseason and now the first 10 practices of Packers training camp. During training camp, he’s been lining up with the second lineup alongside veteran Eric Wilson for most snaps.

Hopper had his struggles with tackling during his time at Missouri, having 33 misses in his two years with the Tigers, according to Pro Football Focus. At the Scouting Combine, he said he needed to improve on his eye discipline and take more consistent tackling angles. This training camp, Hopper said he’s working to play lower to put him in a better position to tackle.

In his upcoming rookie year, Hopper could wear a few different hats as a role player rushing the passer, playing in run support or in pass coverage. His performance at training camp and the preseason will dictate where and how often he is used. 

“The speed, athleticism, the size, the girth, the strength and then just putting him in position to be able to make plays and highlight his attributes,” Missouri linebackers coach and former Packers linebacker D.J. Smith told Packers On SI.

“So, obviously, putting him in situations where he can rush the passer, seeing that on tape that he was a really dynamic pass rusher, interior rusher. So just putting him in those situations to make him successful.”

Hopper says the biggest learning curve in the NFL thus far has been adjusting to all the new aspects of his life and the game. The new settings, teammates, tempo and scheme are new challenges. But he has an experienced linebacker room to help him learn.

“(It’s a) very talented room and I'm just trying to take things from people like Quay (Walker) and Eric and Duff (Isaiah McDuffie), and implement it into my game and into the way I cover, the way I go about playing on the field.”

The opportunity to see the field this season is right in front of Hopper. This training camp, he’s in a one-on-one battle against only himself to earn more opportunities. 

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