Michael Hoecht—Blocking Kicks Among Other Things

 By John Turney 

This past Saturday night in a 13-9 win over the Arizona Cardinals in SoFi stadium, Rams linebacker Michael Hoecht blocked his third kick block of the season -- two PATs and a field goal.

The Los Angeles Rams PR department on X that Hoecht, " .. blocked his third kick of the season, the second-most by a Rams player in a single season trailing Cory Littleton (four). His three blocked kicks lead the NFL."

Well, they are part right in that post. His three blocked kicks do, in fact, lead the NFL. Additionally, it is the first time since 2016 that an NFL player had three in a season -- that was Bengals' defensive lineman Margus Hunt. Further, they are the most in the NFL since Alex Carrington of the Buffalo blocked four in 2012.

Where they err is in saying it's, "second-most by a Rams player in a single season trailing Cory Littleton (four)." Littleton has four career blocks (all punts) and had two in both 2017 and 2018. 

The last Rams player to block three kicks in a season (according to official NFL gamebooks) was 1987 when Nolan Cromwell blocked three punts -- though one was in a strike game. Almost a decade earlier Pat Thomas blocked three in a season. It was 1978 when he blocked three field goals and a punt. 

But is that the most in a season by a Ram?

No, the unofficial record is four and it's a four-way tie and they are:

Irv Cross, 4, 1966 (four field goals)

Eddie Meador, 4, 1962 (four field goals)

John LoVetere, 4, 1960 (two punts, one field goal and one extra point)

Bob Reinhard, 4, 1950 (three pints and one field goal)

Meador and Cross were star defensive backs while LoVetere was a defensive tackle -- who was traded along with a draft pick to the New York Giants for a guy named Rosey Grier, the final piece that formed the Fearsome Foursome. 

Irv Cross

Eddie Meador

John LoVetere

Bob Reinhard

Bob Reinhard was a tackle for the Rams who played just one season for the Rams. He'd come over from the Los Angeles Dons of the AAFC where he's been an all-league tackle, one that also punted and played some fullback.

Hoecht has had quite an NFL journey. He was undrafted and signed with the Rams as a defensive lineman and played some there for about a year and a half. Late in his second season, he was moved by the Rams defensive coach to outside linebacker because injuries had depleted that position room.

He started the rest of that season as an edge player and was a starter in 2023 as well. He'd play outside linebacker in the base defense and would rush as a defensive end in their sub packages. In the base defense he'd sometimes move out to the slot or "Apex" as it is sometimes called and cover a tight end or even a receiver if one ended up as the guy he had to match.

This year he does that on a rotational basis. The Rams have second-year Byton Young as one 3-4 OLBer/DE and Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate as the other. When one of them needs a breather, Hoecht will step in.

But that is not all. In the Rams sub defense this year, especially their dime defense he will play inside linebacker. Usually, he will rush, but sometimes he does drop back and cover a hook or curl zone or match a route. In that package, the dime, he's one linebacker and rookie defensive back Jaylen McCollough plays the other second-level player with four rushers in front and five other defensive backs behind them.

The Rams' dime package has been very good this year in creating pressure, getting hits on quarterbacks and, getting sacks and picking off passes as a result of pressure. Hoecht is a major part of that.

Hoecht has gotten to a kick before this year. In Week 3 of the 2022 season, he deflected an Andy Lee punt that was caught by Jake Gervase caught the ball in the air and set the Rams up for a field goal.

However, it does not count as a block. The ball traveled beyond the line of scrimmage so it went down as a three-yard punt and Gervase was credited with a one-yard pun return.

For all intents and purposes, it was a blocked punt but because it got positive yards it wasn't. If someone deflects a field goal and it is no good, they get credit for a blocked kick. 

No so with punts. It probably has to do with how official scoring has to work, but in our mind, there should be a rotating for deflected punts because it's a notable play that can be change-changing. And that is what counting stats is for, identifying big plays and it does not make sense to ignore one because of scoring rules. 

But, then again, it's one of those things that may never change. Such is life.

In the mean time the Rams are concerned with bigger things, but it wouldn't be terrible if Michael Hoecht blocks one more placekick or even a punt to tie for the most-ever by a Rams player in a single season.