Rams may have overshot the mark at drafting Michael Hoecht's replacement

From the moment that the Los Angeles Rams allowed DT/OLB Michael Hoecht to sign with the Buffalo Bills, the rapidly developing pass rush of Chris Shula's defense faced a fork in the road. While he was not the star edge rusher, Hoecht was a versatile and headsy workaholic who was a driving force in the locker room. He was a guy who worked harder, played smarter, and motivated everyone else on the team. And he did it from behind the curtain, allowing the spotlight to shine on others.

But he was effective. Oh yes, the former undrafted defensive tackle from 2020 was blessed with speed. He was a former running back, and could clock a 40-yards dash in 4.65 seconds. Just for comparison purposes, that is as fast as Rams featured running back Kyren Williams. It's no wonder that former DC Raheem Morris retrained Hoecht to the pass rush realm.

Morris was very disappointed in the Rams' pass rushers in 2022 and released multiple players midseason. He even released productive veteran Leonard Floyd at the end of 2022. That set the stage for the 2023 and 2024 NFL Drafts and the total rebuild of the Rams' pass rush with talented rookies.

It was Michael Hoecht, the re-trained former defensive tackle, who suddenly found himself thrust into a mentor role for the new and young arrivals. Curiously enough, he was perfectly suited for that role.

In three seasons as an edge rusher, Hoecht averaged 4.5 quarterback sacks and over 58 tackles per season. He allowed 37 of 46 passes to find their mark, surrendering 382 receiving yards and one touchdown. But to be fair, the Rams defense put Hoecht into a tough situation, as he was targeted far more often than any other outside linebacker over that time. And he suited up for just over 2000 snaps over that three-season span.

Hoecht was more than a guy who the young players looked up to in the locker room. He is the poster child of the Rams 'we not me,' mindset. He retrained to a new position at the risk of struggling, simply because the team needed him to do so. The irony is that he actually became a dependable edge rusher. And he could fill in the gaps for the team's depth chart that buoyed the Rams long enough to add OLB Jared Verse to complete the defense in 2024.

He was also a staple of the team's special teams.