New kid in town: Film room profile on Gators LB Tyron Hopper

As we inch closer towards the Florida Gators 2019 fall camp, it's time to get a good look at what the Gators are getting in each signed 2019 prospect.

So far, we've broken down the tape of incoming freshmen CB Kaiir Elam, DE Khris Bogle, DE Lloyd Summerall, WR Trent Whittemore, guard Riley Simonds, TE Keon Zipperer, WR Arjei Henderson, DL Jaelin Humphries, and RB Nay'Quan Wright.

Today, we will observe talented incoming freshman linebacker Tyron Hopper.

A top 50 prospect across the nation, the Gators landed a lengthy, athletic stud in Hopper, with a lot of room to grow physically without damaging his elite athleticism.

Hopper stands at a lean 6-2, with long arms and legs that can support more weight. Ideally, Hopper could get to 225 lbs. or so without losing significant athleticism.

The highly-rated Rivals 4-star recorded 193 total tackles, seven sacks, 18.5 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, and four forced fumbles in three varsity seasons at Roswell High School. Prior to his recent transition to linebacker, Hopper played both safety and cornerback, which further developed his coverage skills.

Lined up at cornerback above, Hopper gets hands on the receiver quickly before he turns back into his screen to throw the receiver off of his route plan. From there, Hopper reads the screen route with eyes back the quarterback, and his athleticism takes over, jumping the route and taking this interception to the house.

This route-jumping ability can be seen from Hopper at outside linebacker as well, playing man coverage with an outside shade on the slot receiver to prevent a fade. This supposedly gives the receiver inside leverage on a slant route, which the quarterback picks up on through his run-pass option against a seven-man blitz.

But Hopper's speed and instincts allow him to understand the timing of the release and the in-breaking route. He accelerates underneath the route unseen by the quarterback and jumps what both the QB and WR believe is an easy six points, taking this interception all the way back into the open field.

Back at safety, we get a look at Hopper's speed and angling coming down against the run, which is important in his translation to being an every-down linebacker like he will eventually be at Florida.

First off, Hopper is like a bullet. He covers ground really well with a mix of natural speed and long strides stemming from his length. He also understands his lane when coming down against the run, not pushing too far inside or out to interfere with other defenders. He shoots through his lane, with the speed to pass blockers before the can react.

Hopper actually runs into the lead blocker in his lane, but that's not a problem at all. The lead blocker dictates which way the running back will cut up field, so if Hopper adjusted one way or another to chase the RB, the blocker would have stepped in front and the RB would have gone the opposite opening. Rather, Hopper's impact with the lead block actually knocked the running back off balance.

After totally clogging the run by sticking to his angle, the running back has to take matters into his own hands and attempts to get outside after being initially hit. But Hopper recovers from his bruising hit on the blocker, re-pursues and makes the run stop.

At outside linebacker once again, Hopper is playing run containment against an option pitch play working towards his side of the field.

Going unblocked on the edge, Hopper could easily have shot towards the quarterback with his elite burst and speed to quickly blow the play up, but he remains patient and angling his outside towards the running back in order to make the QB hesitate. This allows other defenders to shut down a cut-up lane for the QB, while eliminating a pitch to the RB: The quarterback is isolated with the ball and forced to work outside.

Hopper set up a perfect tackle for loss opportunity by himself against an option play, and ends it nicely with a big tackle for loss. This gives us insight to his mental processing against the run as an edge setter, and pairing that with his athleticism and physicality makes Hopper all the more intriguing as a run-stuffer at the next level.

The play above isn't too descriptive, as it's a simple run-and-chase outside. But after mentioning multiple times just how fast Tyron Hopper is, here is a look at his speed out in space. As the runner gets even with the sideline, there's about a ten yard cushion between him and Hopper, yet Hopper accelerates and stops what very well could have been a long score.

Surprisingly considering his frame, Hopper has some pass rushing attributes coming off of the edge and turning corners through contact with tackles. In order to continue doing so, adding weight will be very important, but his short-area burst comes in handy as he explodes through the line of scrimmage.

Not surprising due to his previously seen physicality, but Hopper utilizes violent hand movement and a rip move as he bends towards the quarterback before pursuing outside to create a sack. That's an impressive move for a 205 lb. linebacker, and a move that Hopper will keep in his arsenal for blitzing situations at Florida.

Despite a shove from the right tackle working outside, Hopper keeps his feet underneath him in order to sharply turn his corner rather than getting thrown off track. From there, Hopper is free in space to accelerate off of his corner turn, and hit the quarterback through his throwing windup. Hopper knocks the ball loose for a strip-sack.

You'd be hard tasked to find many flaws in linebacker Tyron Hopper's game, as he's a polished prospect in three levels of linebacker play: Coverage, angling and gap-shooting, and pass rushing. He possesses elite athleticism in terms of pure speed, burst, and change-of-direction ability, and has plenty of room to add weight without losing significant athleticism.

Hopper is a Swiss Army Knife linebacker who's ready to make an impact early at Florida. He can begin his career as a pass-down linebacker playing in coverage outside while he continues to add weight, and once he gets into at least the 220+ lb. range he should begin to receive full-time snaps along the Gators defense.