Ryan Hopkins’ maturity is standing out early for Wisconsin football
Ryan Hopkins came to Wisconsin believing he could develop and compete early. The true freshman is already making his case at fall camp.
The biggest thing Ryan Hopkins is trying to avoid during his first fall camp with the Wisconsin football program is looking like a freshman.
That doesn’t mean the mistakes haven’t come.
Hopkins has already experienced some of the natural ups and downs that come with being a first-year quarterback in the Big Ten. But the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Mater Dei product isn’t interested in using his age as an excuse, particularly while competing with Louisville transfer Deuce Adams for the backup job behind Colton Joseph.
“I just think the mentality of not having that freshman mindset of just being the young guy and taking every rep, just like Colton would,” Hopkins told reporters. “Being a young guy, I came from high-level football in California. I’m an older guy, too. I’m 19 going into my freshman year, so I think that helps with the maturity mindset and just being able to be coachable.”
That mindset has helped Hopkins make the backup quarterback competition considerably more interesting than Wisconsin might have anticipated.
Hopkins arrived in Madison as a consensus three-star prospect from Mater Dei, one of the country’s premier high school programs. The Newport Beach (Calif.) native accounted for 2,410 total yards and 19 touchdowns as a senior while regularly competing against top programs.
He believes that background has helped make the adjustment to college football less dramatic.
“Every day of practice was just high tempo, high speed,” Hopkins explained. “The transition to the next level was just so much easier. It helped a lot.”
The transition hasn’t been seamless.
Hopkins spent much of spring practice taking third-team reps before pushing his way into second-team opportunities by the end of the spring, setting the table for a competition with Adams for the backup job this fall. He has continued to earn more reps in the rotation during camp, although Hopkins acknowledged that some recent practices haven’t gone the way he wanted.
That response to adversity might be as important as anything Wisconsin learns about him this fall.
“The last two practices haven’t been my best, and it’s a mindset of moving on to the next one,” Hopkins said. “Tomorrow is a whole new day, and I think it’s just taking coaching and just relaxing. I think I’m just too excited and I’m too eager right now.
“I want to have the chance to be on this field, and I want to play. I want to make a difference on this team,” Hopkins continued. “But I think it’s just a matter of settling down and letting everything come to me, being a leader on this offense and keeping my emotions in control.”
There’s a reason for that eagerness.
Hopkins didn’t sign with Wisconsin expecting to sit indefinitely. The Badgers earned his commitment over offers from Missouri, Kentucky, UCF, Utah, Washington, and others despite their offensive struggles last season and other programs trying to flip him. Hopkins saw the opportunity to develop under offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes and quarterbacks coach Kenny Guiton, but he also saw a potential path onto the field.
“I stuck with them because I knew that those factors and my development and just being a leader in this offense and just growing as a quarterback and being able to play,” Hopkins said. “I also saw a chance to maybe play early, especially here in the Big Ten.”
That opportunity has arrived sooner than expected.
Joseph is Wisconsin’s unquestioned QB1, but Guiton has described the competition between Hopkins and Adams as legitimate. Adams brings college experience after appearing in six games (one start) at Louisville last season, while Hopkins’ maturity and consistency have helped compensate for his lack of experience.
Guiton has specifically praised Hopkins’ leadership, including his willingness to organize meetings with other freshmen away from the facility to help them learn the offense.
“Just the maturity level that he comes in with as a true freshman, it’s just outstanding,” Guiton said of Hopkins. “It’s really above the line. He’s a guy that can naturally go out there and lead on a consistent basis.
“You know what to expect out of him. He’s not going to come out and be two different guys one day to the next.”
There are plenty of people inside the program who believe Hopkins could eventually become part of what Luke Fickell has called a “really bright” future in Wisconsin’s quarterback room. That doesn’t mean he needs to become that player immediately. Joseph, who has two years of eligibility remaining, gives Hopkins time to develop and wait in the wings, but even earning the backup job this fall won’t simply be handed to him.
Adams hasn’t done anything to remove himself from the competition, either. He has continued to make his own case during camp. For all the excitement surrounding Hopkins and what he could eventually become, Wisconsin still has a legitimate decision to make about who sits behind Joseph this season.
That said, Hopkins’ approach to quarterback play also suggests he understands what Wisconsin is looking for. For all the arm talent and playmaking ability required at the position, Hopkins said some of his favorite plays aren’t the ones that generate highlights.
“My favorite plays are the ones that are just the easy ones where you just take what the defense gives you,” Hopkins said. “You have pressure in your face, you take the checkdown. It doesn’t always have to be the big flashy plays all the time. I think doing what’s told of you, doing what the defense gives you, taking the simple stuff, that’s good football.”
That might also be the clearest indication of where Hopkins is in his development.
Hopkins wants to play. He believes he can play early. And he’s competing for an opportunity to put himself one snap away from doing exactly that.
But Hopkins is also learning that earning Wisconsin’s backup quarterback job isn’t necessarily about proving he can make every play.
Sometimes it’s about knowing which ones he doesn’t need to make.
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