{"id":196286,"date":"2025-07-10T14:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/196286\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T14:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:05:10","slug":"chicago-bears-rookie-lb-adds-speed-to-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/196286\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bears rookie LB adds speed to defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chances are, many Chicago Bears fans never had heard of Ruben Hyppolite II.<\/p>\n

When the Bears drafted Hyppolite<\/a> at No. 132 in the fourth round in April, his name was relatively unknown. The Maryland linebacker wasn\u2019t among the 329 players invited to the NFL scouting combine in February. <\/p>\n

But his name certainly was one Bears coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles were interested in.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Bears fans need to know about Hyppolite before rookies report for training camp July 19<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How did he get here?<\/p>\n

After not receiving an invitation to the combine, Hyppolite\u2019s pro day at Maryland took on all the more importance. The 5-foot-11, 236-pound linebacker was clocked at 4.39 seconds in the 40-yard dash on March 28. That caught the attention of NFL talent evaluators. Among off-ball linebackers, Hyppolite\u2019s time would\u2019ve been the fastest at the combine if he\u2019d been invited.<\/p>\n

That set off a mad dash for Hyppolite, who visited with a number of teams suddenly interested at a pretty late stage in the process. He said he took 15 flights in two weeks to make all of those meetings. One visit was to Halas Hall. His speed is exactly what new Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is looking for at linebacker.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Hyppolite\u2019s) a guy that is extremely smart, tough,\u201d Poles said on draft day. \u201cAnd one thing talking with (Allen) is we want to continue to add our team speed \u2014 and he can fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where did he come from?
\n\"MarylandMaryland linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II performs drills during practice July 31, 2024, in College Park, Md. (Kenneth K. Lam\/Baltimore Sun)<\/p>\n

Hyppolite grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and played at McArthur High School in nearby Hollywood. He became a top recruit as an outside linebacker and chose to attend Maryland over offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Florida State, among others.<\/p>\n

Hyppolite appeared in 51 games for the Terrapins, and as a senior in 2024, he totaled 66 tackles, 6\u00bd tackles for a loss, one interception and three passes defended. The numbers don\u2019t pop off the page, but he was a steady contributor over five seasons and emerged as a team captain late in his career.<\/p>\n

Not only did Hyppolite not receive an invite to the combine, but the Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl also passed on him. The Hula Bowl was his only all-star game invitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor anyone who\u2019s out there who thinks that they need things like the combine, an invite to the Senior Bowl, who thinks that they need that to get drafted \u2014 you don\u2019t,\u201d Hyppolite said. \u201cYou\u2019ve just got to put your best foot forward. You\u2019ve got to run fast and be your best self every day. I feel like I\u2019m showing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why did the Bears draft him?<\/p>\n

Speed, obviously, is a huge part of it. Allen\u2019s defenses prioritize speedy linebackers. Hyppolite fits that bill.<\/p>\n

The Bears parted ways with linebacker Jack Sanborn during free agency. The Lake Zurich native followed Matt Eberflus<\/a> to the Dallas Cowboys.\u00a0Sanborn is a smart player and a reliable tackler, but the move was a clear indication that speed is a bigger priority under the new coaching staff.<\/p>\n

Veterans T.J. Edwards \u2014 who received a contract extension in April<\/a> \u2014 and Tremaine Edmunds will remain the primary starters at linebacker.\u00a0But finding a speedy third linebacker became a priority entering draft weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to increase our team speed and athleticism,\u201d Allen said before the draft. \u201cWe\u2019ve got good size, but I think we can get a little bit more athletic and play the game at a little bit higher speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

What his coaches said
\n\"LinebackerLinebacker Ruben Hyppolite II (47) warms up during Bears rookie minicamp at Halas Hall on May 9, 2025, in Lake Forest. (Stacey Wescott\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

As the Bears wrapped up mandatory minicamp in June, Johnson was asked which players stood out over the three-day camp. He highlighted four players \u2014 and one of them was Hyppolite.<\/p>\n

Johnson commended Hyppolite\u2019s willingness to learn, even if he was swimming in the deep end, so to speak, as he learned the defensive scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of moving parts there at linebacker play,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThey\u2019re keying and diagnosing a few different details, and with (Allen\u2019s) scheme, the match mentality that we like to play a lot of our coverages with, things change quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done a great job adjusting to that speed as we\u2019ve gone through, and that\u2019s going to have to show up once we do get the pads on. But he\u2019s been improving every single day and we\u2019re hoping that course continues.\u201d<\/p>\n

What he said<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question Hyppolite has speed. The rookie has to learn how to use it properly within Allen\u2019s scheme.<\/p>\n

Hyppolite spent time learning various linebacker spots this spring. Edwards missed portions of the spring with an injury, which allowed Hyppolite to work with the first-team defense in place of the veteran.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about just understanding the tempo and understanding how to use (my speed) and when to use it, when to not,\u201d Hyppolite said during the final week of organized team activities. \u201cSo I\u2019ve been able to gauge that over these six, seven weeks we\u2019ve been here. It\u2019s been a great adjustment period for me. Now it\u2019s time to go full speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

What he needs to prove during training camp<\/p>\n

Learning the playbook quickly will be a big factor in whether Hyppolite plays much as a rookie. As things stand, Hyppolite and third-year pro Noah Sewell are likely to be battling for the third linebacker job.<\/p>\n

Like most NFL teams these days, the Bears spend the majority of the time with five defensive backs and only two linebackers on the field. But that third linebacker spot can be crucial against certain looks from the offense. That job previously belonged to Sanborn. Sewell has appeared in 22 games over his first two seasons but primarily on special teams.<\/p>\n

If Hyppolite can harness his speed and come to understand instinctively what his defensive coordinator expects of him, he could find himself on the field as a rookie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chances are, many Chicago Bears fans never had heard of Ruben Hyppolite II. When the Bears drafted Hyppolite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,32795,1035,692,391,2493,8897,7,6,6879,7402,7401],"class_list":{"0":"post-196286","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-bears-training-camp","10":"tag-ben-johnson","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-bears","13":"tag-chicagobears","14":"tag-dennis-allen","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-ruben-hyppolite","18":"tag-t-j-edwards","19":"tag-tremaine-edmunds"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114829323934479759","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}