The Green Bay Packers are a team that appears to be peaking at the right time, and they’ll take their development to the test when they host the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. The battle between NFC powers is one of the biggest matchups of Week 14. After back-to-back convincing wins over the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, the Packers will look to sweep the NFC North in consecutive weeks and perhaps climb to the top spot in the NFC standings.
It’s a sign of growth from a team that started to create concern after dropping games to the Carolina Panthers and Detroit Lions in recent weeks, and one of the more recent developments has been an increased role for Ty’Ron Hopper.
Hopper has filled in over the past two weeks, while starting linebacker Quay Walker has been out with a neck injury. But it appears his time is up after Walker practiced in full on Thursday and Friday and did not receive a final designation on the Packers’ final injury report, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.
Although the Packers will be glad to get Walker back for a key divisional battle, they may be about to pump the brakes on Hopper, who had come into his own over the past two weeks.
Quay Walker’s Return Could Send Ty’Ron Hopper Back to Packers’ Bench
Hopper was a third-round pick by the Packers in the 2024 draft and had been used sparingly until Walker’s injury in a Week 11 win over the New York Giants. While Hopper’s defensive snap count hadn’t gone above 5.0% for most of the season, it skyrocketed to 40.7% in the Week 12 win over the Vikings and 27.0% in last week’s win over the Lions.
While Hopper’s playing time went up with Walker out, it’s not like he hasn’t earned a role moving forward. According to Pro Football Focus, Hopper posted an overall grade of 65.7 against the Vikings and was also strong against the run (62.7 grade) and in coverage (63.6 grade). He came back to play 17 snaps in last week’s win in Detroit and notched three more tackles and a run stop to keep the momentum going.
With Walker back, there’s a good chance that Hopper will go back to special teams. But the small sample size, combined with Isaiah McDuffie’s performance as a reserve linebacker and special teams player, could still make Walker expendable as he’s set to hit free agency at the end of this season.
The Packers have hinted at their long-term view of Walker as they didn’t pick up his fifth-year contract option last spring. If they don’t feel he’s part of the future, it may be wise to mix in Hopper at times to give him developmental snaps, although that is unlikely to occur given the magnitude of Sunday’s game.
For now, Hopper must hope that there’s still a role for him with Walker back on the field. Otherwise, the growth over the past two weeks will have to be tabled until another opportunity pops up.