COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri football team landed another defensive reinforcement from the NCAA transfer portal. Former North Carolina outside linebacker Tyrone Hopper committed to Mizzou on Monday as a graduate transfer. He spent the last six years at UNC, playing in just over 1,000 snaps from 2017-21, mostly along the defensive line as an edge rusher.
He had his most productive season in 2020, finishing with 27 pressures and 23 hurries, according to Pro Football Focus. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Hopper was listed as a defensive end in his social media post Monday announcing his pledge to Mizzou.
Hopper, a native of Roswell, Georgia, came back to UNC for one final year of eligibility in 2021 but suffered a season-ending upper-body injury early in the year that afforded him another season of eligibility. In his UNC career, Hopper finished with 61 tackles, five tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He started 10 of 12 games in 2020.
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He’s the fourth transfer Mizzou has picked up since the end of the regular season, joining Clemson safety Joseph Charleston, Buffalo center Bence Polgar, Oklahoma State defensive tackle Jayden Jernigan and Texas A&M cornerback Dreyden Norwood. As a defensive end, he'll add depth to a D-line that returns starters Isaiah McGuire and Trajan Jeffcoat plus young backups Johnny Walker Jr., Arden Walker, and Travion Ford, among others.