Earlier today — March 13, 2024 — the Rams placed a $3 million tender on three-year veteran OLB Michael Hoecht. Thus, the team is making a concerted effort to keep the Ivy League graduate in the fold for at least one more year.
We have tendered OLB Michael Hoecht. ⤵️
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) March 13, 2024
Michael Hoecht Bio and Stats
Michael Hoecht was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada in 1997.
He is 6’4″ and weights 310 lbs.
He attended college in the Ivy League, and played four seasons for the Brown University Bears. Hoecht played defensive line at Brown. He was named a team captain. In his senior year, he was named second team All-Ivy League. However, Brown finished in last place in the Ivy League in each of Hoecht’s last three years there.
Hoecht wanted to play professionally, and was trying to get on the radar of pro scouts, However, as reported by Sports Illustrated:
“An agent told him the year before that he had a shot at playing professionally, but an Ivy League program coming off three consecutive last-place finishes doesn’t draw much attention from the NFL.”
Former L.A. defensive line coach Eric Henderson was intrigued by game film of Hoecht during his Ivy League career. Henderson thought Hoecht might be a diamond in the rough. Henderson’s discovery of Hoecht was the beginning of Hoecht’s story in Los Angeles. (Henderson left the team following the 2023 season to join the USC Trojans football staff.)
Following the 2020 NFL Draft, Los Angeles signed Hoecht as an undrafted free agent. Nick Coit, the Sports Director at ABC News in Providence, Rhode Island (the Brown campus is located in Providence, R.I.), tweeted about the signing:
Congrats to the @BrownUFootball captain, DL Michael Hoecht, who will get his professional opportunity with the LA Rams! @ABC6 https://t.co/UW9TYBWGlb
— Nick Coit (@NCoitABC6) April 26, 2020
It’s a pretty big deal for a Brown alumnus to make it onto an NFL team. Hoecht is currently the lone NFL player from Brown!
In the 2020 season, Hoecht, who was then playing defensive line, was on L.A.’s practice squad.
Hoecht made the regular 53-man roster in 2021. He played in all games during the regular season, and started in three of those games. He also played in all postseason games that year, including the Super Bowl.
In December 2021, Sports Illustrated ran a feature article about Hoecht, entitled, “How Did Michael Hoecht Get Here?” The article has a catchy subtitle:
The story of just another Canadian prospect from a last-place Ivy League program who now shares the defensive line with Aaron Donald.
Midway through the 2022 season, L.A. moved Hoecht from defensive line to outside linebacker. In his first start in his new position, he had “two sacks, three quarterback hits, and one forced fumble.” Based on his performance in the 2022 season, Turf Show Times rated Hoecht the eleventh best player on the team.
Continuing his progression, Hoecht started all 17 regular season games for the Rams in 2023. He also played in the team’s playoff loss to the Detroit Lions. During the regular season, he had six quarterback sacks. In the playoff loss to Detroit, he was credited with half a sack and two quarterback hits.
Michael Hoecht
inside slap, pull and arm over for a sack#SEAvsLAC #Seahawks #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/WHN7fhyuSp— ᑭᖇO ᖴOOTᗷᗩᒪᒪ ᒍOᑌᖇᑎᗩᒪ 🏈 (@NFL_Journal) December 4, 2022
During the 2023 season, Hoecht was high on the list of L.A. players with the greatest number of quarterback pressures.
The most QB pressures this season:
Aaron Donald – 61
Byron Young – 37
Michael Hoecht – 27
Kobie Turner – 23
Ernest Jones – 15— PFF LA Rams (@PFF_Rams) December 7, 2023
By Placing Tender on Hoecht, the L.A. Rams Are Looking to Bring Him Back for the 2024 Season
The Los Angeles Rams are looking to bring back Michael Hoecht in 2024 and have a very good chance to do so. The team announced on [March 13, 2024] that it has tendered Hoecht, who was a restricted free agent this offseason.
The Rams are using the right of first refusal tender, which is the lowest level and will pay him $2.985 million for one season. With this tender, teams can still negotiate with Hoecht and offer him contracts of their own.
The Rams will have the right to match any offer in order to keep Hoecht on the roster. If they don’t match the offer, Hoecht will leave[,] and the Rams will receive no draft pick compensation.
Therefore, the Rams are essentially letting the market set Hoecht’s price. It’s possible no team will sign him to an offer sheet worth more than the $2.985 million tender.
The tender that L.A. placed on Hoecht differs from the second-round tender placed on Left Tackle Alaric Jackson. Whereas the tender placed on Jackson would result in the Rams receiving a draft pick if another teams sign him, the tender placed on Hoecht would not have the same consequence. Still, the tender placed on Hoecht, gives the Rams the capacity to keep him by matching any offer made to Hoecht.
Hoecht Plays on the Edge Opposite Byron Young
Hoecht and standout rookie Byron Young played the majority of snaps at edge rusher for L.A. in 2023.
Young was a third-round draft pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. At the end of the 2023 NFL preseason, “head coach Sean McVay named Young a starting outside linebacker to begin the season, opposite Hoecht.”
ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Jr. suggests the team might be well-advised to add another edge rusher to the mix in the 2024 NFL Draft.
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