Player Previews: How Long Until QB Ryan Hopkins Debuts in Madison?

Over the course of the summer leading up to Big Ten Media Days and fall camp, Badgers On SI will extensively preview Wisconsin football's roster with a write-up for each player expected to be remotely involved in 2026.

We continue the series with the most talked-about player at spring camp, quarterback Ryan Hopkins.

2025 Stats

N/A (High School Senior at Mater Dei in Santa Ana, California).

Overview

Hopkins was an earlier pledge for Wisconsin in the lackluster 2025 recruiting class. The consensus three-star recruit fielded a dozen power conference offers, but stayed true to his commitment even as the Badgers fell apart on the field last fall and most of their top recruits jumped ship.

After he transferred to Mater Dei for his senior season of high school, there was concern that he'd blow up and a blue blood program would come scoop him up. But the Badgers held on, and Hopkins arrived on campus in the winter as an early-enrollee true freshman. What happened next? Not even his staunchest supporters saw coming.

Hopkins skyrocketed up the depth chart with his cerebral, mature play, looking poised beyond his years and flashing both his arm talent and dynamic legs (he was clocked running a 10.97 100-meter in high school).

“He’s been a treat to coach. He comes in with the right mentality, he wants to lead. One of my biggest things is, yes the football is working well, but he’s bringing people along with him. He just comes in with a business mentality. He’s kinda an older guy in a young guy’s body," quarterbacks coach Kenny Guiton said this spring.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had a high school senior come in and split reps with the twos."

Best-Case Scenario

Wisconsin quarterback Ryan Hopkins. | Christian Borman.

Hopkins is still competing with Louisville transfer and redshirt sophomore Deuce Adams for the QB2 gig. It's a battle that raged throughout spring ball and will continue into fall camp. It'll be interesting to see what the return of Danny O'Neil does to the pecking order of the room, but Hopkins and Adams are currently the clear top reserves at quarterback.

In a best-case scenario for Hopkins, he beats out Adams in a development that would've been rather stunning just a few months ago. The true freshman rides the bench for a game or two, but sees some action in Wisconsin's buy games against Eastern Michigan and Western Illinois. He proceeds to play some mop-up duty the rest of the way, earning valuable reps as he prepares to be the Badgers' quarterback of the future.

“He’s a great quarterback," his main competitor Adams said this spring with a wry smile. "He can throw, he can run. Kinda like Colton, really. Those Cali boys. But na, he’s good as a freshman.”

Worst-Case Scenario

In a sense, Hopkins has already exceeded expectations for 2026. No one expected him to come in and immediately push a redshirt sophomore for the QB2 gig, and his traits appear to have translated very nicely to the Big Ten level. It's essentially been a best-case scenario for Hopkins thus far, but things could certainly go sideways this fall.

If Hopkins falters in fall camp, he could be relegated to the QB3 gig — or even potentially QB4, depending on what O'Neil shows in fall camp. In this scenario, he likely wouldn't see the field in 2026 and winds up sitting on the bench for a year. After a seriously promising spring camp, Wisconsin fans will wonder what happened to the Hopkins magic and if they can still pencil him in as their quarterback of the future.

Prediction

It's hard to bet against Hopkins right now. Players and coaches alike simply rave about him, and he only seemed to pick up more momentum as fall camp wore on.

"His mindset is just what you want: studies, works at it, confident but not arrogant. Has that ‘it’ thing that you want every quarterback to have; he steps in the huddle and you feel his presence, even as a young guy," Grimes said.

With that being said, I fully expect Hopkins to win the QB2 gig. Unless he completely falters in fall camp, or is beaten out fair and square by Adams, I don't see the point in relegating him to QB3 when he's clearly the future of the quarterback position at Madison.

I'm not sure how much playing time he'll receive this fall, as I expect the Badgers to be in a lot of close games without much time to rest starters. But I'd expect him to see at least a few drives this fall, and flash the same skills that wrote so many headlines this spring.

Add us as a preferred source on Google