On the first day of the legal tampering period, the Buffalo Bills signed former Rams Defensive Lineman Michael Hoecht to a deal that was originally reported at 3 years for 24 million dollars.
The casual fan then responded with, “Who?” After all, he had never been part of draft news cycles. He had never been part of big Conference recruiting out of High School. He had never had any real buzz in the media or gained any real traction outside of the Los Angeles Area.
So how does an undrafted free agent rise through the ranks to earn a lucrative second contract? Let’s take a deep dive into the career of Michael Hoecht.
See also, the in-depth preview of new WR signing Josh Palmer.
Early Life and Background
Michael Hoecht was originally born in the greater Toronto Area and lived there until he was three years old before moving to Ohio. He grew up in Oakwood, Ohio, rising up the ranks before moving back to Canada for his first two years of high school, first in Stittsville, Canada (outside of Ottawa), then in Toronto at the North Toronto Collegiate Institute. He then moved back to the Dayton Area, returning to his previous High School in Oakwood. Upon his return, he played both basketball and football and quickly became a team captain in both sports.
Coming out of High School, the NCAA listed him as a 6’4” 265 lb Defensive End. He ran a 4.89 40-yard dash, a 4.36 short shuttle, a 260 bench press, and a 400-lb squat. He maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout this transition.
During his high school years, he played full back quite a bit with almost 1000 yards rushing during his senior year.
Hoecht, with his impeccable academic record, ended up going the Ivy League route, playing for the Brown Bears as a defensive End. Throughout his time in college, he bulked up to his playing weight of 310 lbs and emerged as a leader, again gaining the Team Captain status during his final two years of play. He was productive for the Bears with 17 sacks across his playing career, including 4 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, and 42 total tackles during his senior year.
The NCAA recognized his play and invited him to the 2020 draft combine, but being in the height of the pandemic, Hoecht’s ability to show everyone what he could do was restricted to self hosting a virtual pro day, where he posted a 4.65 40 yard dash, a 33.5 inch vertical jump, and improved his short shuttle to 4.21 seconds.
While this didn’t earn enough attention for him to be drafted, he was shortly after the draft signed to an Undrafted Free Agent rookie deal with the Los Angeles Rams.
His Career with the Rams
As a Ram, Michael Hoecht was faced with an immense set of challenges. First off, he was unable to make the Rams roster initially, instead playing on the playing squad for the entire 2020-2021 season.
In the next season, the Rams suffered a slew of injuries on the defensive side of the ball and Hoecht was given the opportunity to do something radical: to try to transition to playing outside linebacker.
As a 300+ lineman coming out of the draft, this was no easy task, but to Hoecht’s credit he stepped up when they needed him to, filled in the gap admirably, and racked up 36 tackles (23 solo), 4.5 sacks, and 4 tackles for loss in 6 games as a starter.
In the following off-season, Hoecht began to transform his body more into what it had been coming out of high school, trimming down to 265 lbs once again. And boy, did the Rams use him. With his official position being listed as outside linebacker, Hoecht at times rushed from the edge, slid inside and rushed from the middle and the lines, and still, at other times, dropped back into coverage.
In 2023, he started all 17 games, defended 2 passes, forced a fumble, and racked up 6 sacks, 81 tackles (45 solo), 7 tackles for loss and 11 QB hits. He looked poised to have a meaningful role, given his explosive nature.
But in 2024, the Rams elevated linebackers coach Chris Shula as the new defensive Coordinator, giving him new players at his disposal, including 3 EDGE players in the 2023 Draft and 2 more in the 2024 draft. This new rotation, including the emergence of stud rookie Jared Verse, meant that Hoecht found himself as more of a role player, only playing 57% of snaps, while Jared Verse commanded 75%. So how did Hoecht find so much playing time?
He did anything and everything they needed. Line up out wide? Rush the middle? Drop into coverage? Play Special Teams? Hoecht did it. He played 37% of the total special teams snaps.
And he was really good when he was on the field. For Jared Verse commanding so many more defensive snaps, he only had 1.5 more sacks, only ten more tackles, 7 more tackles for loss, and 12 more QB hits, playing exclusively from the edge, where Hoecht played everywhere you can imagine in the 1st and 2nd levels of the defense. With 24 assisted tackles, he led the league in assists while only playing 57% of the snaps. He has a high motor and amazing tenacity, hustling to the ball on every play he can.
What He Brings to the Bills
Michael Hoecht is not Von Miller. He is not Myles Garrett or Josh Sweat. He is not going to lead the league in tackles or sacks, nor does he answer all the questions the Bills defense had.
Hoecht is a Bills-style player through and through. He will do anything you need him to do. He’ll play special teams, he’ll kick down and play DT, he’ll play as part of a rotation, and he will not stop hustling to the ball. Who else have we known who played like that? Names like Kyle Williams, Lorenzo Alexander, and Horrible Harry come to mind. Relentlessly hard workers who put the team’s need above their own.
Coming in with a 2-year, 13.4 million dollars guaranteed, with an option to extend after the second year, Hoecht is betting on himself, and the Bills get another weapon to add to a D-Line that struggled to get to the QB. As much as I am not a fan of the rotation that the Bills like to run at defensive line, Hoecht should fit right into that mold, able to fill in at any position on the Defensive line. Don’t be surprised to see Rousseau rush one side while Hoecht rushes the other; then see him switch to give Greg a breather while Epenesa takes his spot. Imagine a 3rd and long with Epenesa, Rousseau, Ed Oliver, and Hoecht all on the line at the same time. What kind of stunts can you run with a line like that?
Don’t forget, A.J. Epenesa was drafted out of Iowa as a 6’4 300 lb lineman and then went through a similar career arc.
At a fairly low cap number, Hoecht should be an intriguing talent to watch and might be just the right fit for this Bills’ defense.