[Warning: Long] People seemed to like them, so I figure I'll make these evaluation threads a thing of some kind since news is sparse and we don't have much else to talk about. Here goes.
Being an East Tennessee guy, I love when one of our own has a chance to be a signal caller for the Vols. That said, Hopkins needs a strong senior outing to boost his stock and get into D-I and not D-I AA relevance, but if UT is looking to take two QBs in this class, Hopkins may not be a terrible pick up for depth and development.
From watching his highlight tape briefly, here are the things I like:
-Displays good timing on seams, Go routes, and crossers.
---> You can tell Coach Quarles and the Maryville system have put polish on this kid. His timing on these routes is solid with good footwork for a HS QB. Gets the ball out on time and puts it in the right place on these routes.
-While it was a highlight tape, Hopkins displayed good decision-making on his zone reads, both his A gap and C gap reads, whether zone read or inverted veer.
---> This may be a little of a throwaway since it is a highlight tape and the wrong read clearly wouldn't make it on the tape; however, you could say the same for everything on a highlight tape. It's the best of what he displays, and from the tape, I like the mesh point control he displays and the reads he makes, as some were pretty tight but his control of the mesh point allowed him to keep the ball in the breadbasket and pull it at the right moment.
-Hopkins has a pretty strong arm and displays good accuracy.
---> Perhaps my favorite thing about Hopkins from his tape was his ability to alter the trajectory of his throws based on what he sees from the coverage. There were two throws in particular that I liked. One was on a spot route (Trips to one side, outside receiver sits at 5-7, with a corner route over top of it and a flat route underneath it to the outside) where he slotted the ball, putting it on the receivers inside shoulder anticipating a scraping CB coming from the outside off the flat route. It allowed his receiver to turn upfield on initial contact, fight for more yards and score a TD.
The other was on a seam route in the redzone where Hopkins shorted the throw, allowing the ball to have initial loft but then dip in the redzone. This got the throw over the line and LBs but well under where any safety or CB could make a play. It was a beautiful throw.
-Hopkins also has good touch, and shows an ability to improvise.
Things I don't like:
-Hopkins is shorter than ideal at 6"0, likely 5'11. (247 has him listed as 6"2; not sure I believe that.) @Austin_Price stood next to him. How tall is he?
---> Hoping his got a growth spurt in him. Anybody know his family? How tall are they? Should lend some clues, but being 18, he may have another couple years to grow. 6"2 would be ideal for him and the most he may be able to expect.
-Hopkins is likely too slow to be a prolific DT at the next level.
---> Don't get me wrong, the kid can run, but he runs well for a HS QB. I project his 40 to be about 4.72- 4.85 based on his film. That will allow him to run away from people at Maryville, but he'll get hawked down quickly in the SEC.
-Hopkins is a pocket passer who is likely too slow to be a true DT and shorter than ideal to be a PP.
---> But Power_T, you heard of Drew Brees, Doug Flutie? Yea, I heard of them guys, and yea, you guys may be right, but we'll have to see. Kids got a great arm so it could happen for him like it did for Breesus and Flutie.
-Finally, is it the Maryville system?
---> You'd be hard-pressed to find a better Xs and Os system than Maryville's in all of Tennessee. They beat excellent athletes state-wide with above average athletes and superb coaching. You can tell Hopkins has been well coached up and he throws to spots often based on my reading of the route combos they are running. My only question then is, does he throw to spots regardless of coverage? I think sometimes he does, as evinced by one post route which would have easily been picked at the next level but was a 30+ yard gain for his WR. He threw it right into a cover 3 safety that had come down because he had no other deep threat in his zone but had a deep 9 route in the CB's zone to his left. Hopkins got lucky as that will work in HS but not college. Nonetheless, the same can be said about almost every HS QB.
Overall:
I like Hopkins. He's not going to be our guy, but the kid can sling the damn thing very well. He shows great touch, great anticipation and seems to have a good understanding of everything that is going on. He shows polish with his timing and good accuracy, as well as the ability to improvise.
Hopkins strikes me as a QB in the mold of Will McBride. A little undersized but has a good arm. I could see him as a high 2 star or low 3 star, but nonetheless, he'll provide good depth as our QB room gets shaken up in the coming years.
Being an East Tennessee guy, I love when one of our own has a chance to be a signal caller for the Vols. That said, Hopkins needs a strong senior outing to boost his stock and get into D-I and not D-I AA relevance, but if UT is looking to take two QBs in this class, Hopkins may not be a terrible pick up for depth and development.
From watching his highlight tape briefly, here are the things I like:
-Displays good timing on seams, Go routes, and crossers.
---> You can tell Coach Quarles and the Maryville system have put polish on this kid. His timing on these routes is solid with good footwork for a HS QB. Gets the ball out on time and puts it in the right place on these routes.
-While it was a highlight tape, Hopkins displayed good decision-making on his zone reads, both his A gap and C gap reads, whether zone read or inverted veer.
---> This may be a little of a throwaway since it is a highlight tape and the wrong read clearly wouldn't make it on the tape; however, you could say the same for everything on a highlight tape. It's the best of what he displays, and from the tape, I like the mesh point control he displays and the reads he makes, as some were pretty tight but his control of the mesh point allowed him to keep the ball in the breadbasket and pull it at the right moment.
-Hopkins has a pretty strong arm and displays good accuracy.
---> Perhaps my favorite thing about Hopkins from his tape was his ability to alter the trajectory of his throws based on what he sees from the coverage. There were two throws in particular that I liked. One was on a spot route (Trips to one side, outside receiver sits at 5-7, with a corner route over top of it and a flat route underneath it to the outside) where he slotted the ball, putting it on the receivers inside shoulder anticipating a scraping CB coming from the outside off the flat route. It allowed his receiver to turn upfield on initial contact, fight for more yards and score a TD.
The other was on a seam route in the redzone where Hopkins shorted the throw, allowing the ball to have initial loft but then dip in the redzone. This got the throw over the line and LBs but well under where any safety or CB could make a play. It was a beautiful throw.
-Hopkins also has good touch, and shows an ability to improvise.
Things I don't like:
-Hopkins is shorter than ideal at 6"0, likely 5'11. (247 has him listed as 6"2; not sure I believe that.) @Austin_Price stood next to him. How tall is he?
---> Hoping his got a growth spurt in him. Anybody know his family? How tall are they? Should lend some clues, but being 18, he may have another couple years to grow. 6"2 would be ideal for him and the most he may be able to expect.
-Hopkins is likely too slow to be a prolific DT at the next level.
---> Don't get me wrong, the kid can run, but he runs well for a HS QB. I project his 40 to be about 4.72- 4.85 based on his film. That will allow him to run away from people at Maryville, but he'll get hawked down quickly in the SEC.
-Hopkins is a pocket passer who is likely too slow to be a true DT and shorter than ideal to be a PP.
---> But Power_T, you heard of Drew Brees, Doug Flutie? Yea, I heard of them guys, and yea, you guys may be right, but we'll have to see. Kids got a great arm so it could happen for him like it did for Breesus and Flutie.
-Finally, is it the Maryville system?
---> You'd be hard-pressed to find a better Xs and Os system than Maryville's in all of Tennessee. They beat excellent athletes state-wide with above average athletes and superb coaching. You can tell Hopkins has been well coached up and he throws to spots often based on my reading of the route combos they are running. My only question then is, does he throw to spots regardless of coverage? I think sometimes he does, as evinced by one post route which would have easily been picked at the next level but was a 30+ yard gain for his WR. He threw it right into a cover 3 safety that had come down because he had no other deep threat in his zone but had a deep 9 route in the CB's zone to his left. Hopkins got lucky as that will work in HS but not college. Nonetheless, the same can be said about almost every HS QB.
Overall:
I like Hopkins. He's not going to be our guy, but the kid can sling the damn thing very well. He shows great touch, great anticipation and seems to have a good understanding of everything that is going on. He shows polish with his timing and good accuracy, as well as the ability to improvise.
Hopkins strikes me as a QB in the mold of Will McBride. A little undersized but has a good arm. I could see him as a high 2 star or low 3 star, but nonetheless, he'll provide good depth as our QB room gets shaken up in the coming years.
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