The Green Bay Packers’ off-ball linebacker corps is probably the room we should expect the least turnover from between now and the start of the regular season. Still, regardless of what happens at the position, one of Green Bay’s primary goals this year has to be finding out exactly what they have in Ty’Ron Hopper.
“Honestly, I’m just getting comfortable with the scheme and trying to play fast and physical,” Hopper said during his rookie offseason. “I just feel like I’m getting better every day, taking coaching and try to put it into team (11-on-11) and trying to be consistent.”
As a rookie, he suited up for all 17 games and recorded two tackles on defense while finishing fourth on the team with seven special teams tackles. However, those numbers barely tell the story because Green Bay didn’t use him on defense. Hopper only played 18 defensive snaps all season, spending most of the year buried behind Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie, and Edgerrin Cooper.
“Obviously, he didn’t get as many opportunities as he probably would’ve liked, but I think certainly that will come,” Gutekunst said of Hopper last year.
“I thought in practice throughout the year he continued to develop,” he added. “Every time he got an opportunity, whether it was preseason or towards the end of the year, I thought he produced and showed what we were looking for.”
The 2024 third-round pick saw increased playing time in 2025, logging 133 total defensive snaps. However, most of that workload still came in limited rotational opportunities. Hopper only made one start all season, which came in Week 18 against the Minnesota Vikings. Green Bay had already clinched a playoff spot by then and was eliminated from division title contention. Therefore, they chose to rest several starters ahead of the postseason.
Hopper will probably open training camp as the fourth linebacker on the depth chart. Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin should handle most of the snaps in Green Bay’s 4-2-5 looks, and I would expect the Packers to keep leaning on Isaiah McDuffie in their base 4-3 packages because the coaching staff clearly trusts him.
And to be fair, McDuffie has earned that trust. While he has occasionally struggled, especially in coverage, the Packers clearly believe he does not compromise the defense’s structure. Otherwise, he would not have spent the last couple of years consistently playing meaningful snaps and opening seasons as part of the starting lineup.
But eventually, Green Bay needs to figure out whether Hopper can give them something similar at a lower long-term cost. I’m not saying Hopper is definitely the better player right now; we don’t know that yet. The problem is that after two seasons, we still have barely seen him play meaningful defensive snaps.
Still, Ty’Ron Hopper is younger, more athletic, and on a rookie contract. If the Packers believe he can eventually develop into a player capable of providing similar production, that could significantly impact how they approach the position over the next couple of years.
