Plenty of experts lined up to point at Ruben Hyppolite II after the dust settled in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Maryland linebacker didn't have a fourth-round grade. Plenty had him as an undrafted free agent. Part of that was because Hyppolite didn't get an NFL Combine, Senior Bowl or Shrine Bowl invite.
"Misery loves company," Hyppolite said. "There’s a lot of people that don't know what I had to go through to get this opportunity."
The Chicago Bears didn't listen to any of that. They took Hyppolite in the fourth round.
The draft process unearthed a player the Bears saw as mature off the field as much as he is fast on it. That belief stuck with him. The process gave way to a story that Hyppolite finds motivation in.
For the litany of people who said the Bears reached on Hyppolite, the Maryland product has confidence that he can prove he's a steal.
"I love my story," Hyppolite said.
Seeing Ruben through others' eyes
Bears' sixth-round pick Luke Newman transferred to Michigan State from Holy Cross. He was preparing to play Maryland in September of the 2024 season.
"That was my first Big Ten game ever," Newman said. "Scouting report was they had some pretty solid guys in the interior too, and Ruben was kind of heading that linebacker group."
MSU beat Maryland 27-24, but Hyppolite led all players that afternoon with eight tackles. He had .5 tackles for loss, too.
"He used tremendous sideline-to-sideline speed," Newman said. "He was a very instinctive player and a guy that you got to keep an eye on."
Bears' seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai had no other choice than to keep an eye on him.
Maryland has played Rutgers every year since the 2021 season, the freshman year for both Monangai and Hyppolite. In their college careers, Hyppolite was credited with stopping Monangai four times. In Hyppolite's freshman year, he was credited with five tackles on former Rutgers running back, current Kansas City Chief and Super Bowl champion Isiah Pacheco.
This doesn't take into account the amount of times Hyppolite affected a Monangai run that ended in a short gain or negative play.
"Me and Ruben know each other well on the field," Monangai said. "Now, we get to know each other off the field. Great player, great linebacker. We met a lot of times in that hole."
That was the respect that Hyppolite earned among players within the Big Ten. The NFL scouting circles didn't see it the same.
‘Choppping wood, carrying water’
Hyppolite went back and forth to see if he was going to get a shot.
Of the 329 players invited to the NFL Combine – arguably one of the most important job interviews for any NFL prospect – Hyppolite had to relegate himself to training.
He participated in the Hula Bowl and made sure he publicly said how grateful he was for that.
"I called the NFS twice to see if I had a combine invite. They said no," he said. "Going through that and then just going through training the whole combine season. Chopping wood, carrying water, going through it every day and then having my opportunity, my one opportunity at Pro Day doing that."
Since he wasn't invited to the combine there were teams that wanted to get to know him better.
That was reflected in his ensuing schedule.
"I went on like 15 visits took 30 flights in two weeks, back and forth across the country, doing my meetings and stuff with like that," Hyppolite said. "All of that is just a combination of me getting the opportunity now. I definitely don't take it for granted. I'm very grateful to everybody upstairs for believing in me and in my ability."
Come draft weekend, Hyppolite was validated. The Bears selected him in the fourth round.
Call it a reach if you want. The moment was a validation for the linebacker. After all the moments where he was overlooked, the Bears gave him the shot he worked for.
It isn't a small one either. The Bears are opening up competition for the third spot on their linebacker depth chart behind Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards. Hyppolite can nab that spot if he fits what defensive coordinator Dennis Allen wants.
"That third spot, it's up for grabs," Bears head coach Ben Johnson said. "DA's got a prototype for what that SAM would look like. We're more concerned with, let's find our third-best linebacker and we'll figure it out from there."
If Hyppolite works his way up the depth chart, it'll be the next chapter in his story that proves the unconventional way can work.
"For anyone who's out there who thinks that they need things like the combine, an invite the Senior Bowl, who thinks that they need that to get drafted. You don't," Hyppolite said. "You’ve just got to put your best foot forward. You’ve got to run fast and be your best self every day. I feel like I'm showing that."
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