Bills' important edge rusher making strides from last season's injury

With OTAs starting on May 18th for the Buffalo Bills, now is the time for head coach Joe Brady and his staff to evaluate which players will make it to training camp healthy and ready to go. While some players are new to the team, one veteran who didn't finish last season is there to show he's been working hard to rejoin it.

Edge rusher Michael Hoecht is at OTAs and ready to participate in on-field drills after suffering an Achilles injury last season during a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9, and was out the rest of the year.

Currently, his recovery is going well, as he has completed workouts with the team during individual drills and is on track to rejoin the lineup in camp.

Michael Hoecht making progress from last season's injury

Hoecht was shown in a video presented by WGR 550 AM's Sal Capaccio, where he participated through wind sprints with a helmet on. The fact that he's gone from tearing his Achilles to now sprinting in less than a year is remarkable and shows the significant progress he has made.

Evaluating Hoecht's time with Bills

Hoecht's career with the Bills has been an eventful one so far. He started 2025 serving a six-game suspension for violating the leagues' PED policy, but then came back and produced immediately. In those two games, the 28-year-old collected two sacks, two quarterback pressures, and one tackle for loss.

His best game of the season did come in that 28-21 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 of the 2025 NFL regular season. Before his 4th-quarter injury, he collected four tackles. He was a force in pressuring Patrick Mahomes, disrupting his game once again during the regular season, highlighting his flexibility and skill.

Hoecht's teammates

With Hoecht's return, the team will be making an important addition that can strengthen the edge rushers' room. Hopefully, with the addition of free-agent pickup Bradley Chubb and second-round draft pick T.J. Parker, they will add equal production.

All three of these players, along with Greg Rousseau, are the big, powerful edge rushers Brandon Beane values to strengthen the defense.

If the Bills do decide to officially move on from Joey Bosa and A.J. Epenesa (they are both still free agents), this would allow Hoecht to step in as the No. 4 edge rusher, which should give him time to hone in on his skills.

Last year, he showed promise in Sean McDermott's 4-3, conservative defense, but now, and for the long term, this defense under Jim Leonhard may be a better fit for his skill set. He will be an asset to Leonhard's new hard-hitting defense, so getting him back on the team reinforces their goal of strengthening it.

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