We're kinda stuck with what we got at this point. Hoecht is an ok rotational talent but being a reliable starter doesn't seem wise at this point. Maybe Mathis can come in a few weeks and show something? Can yet another rookie be a miracle starter for us this year? If he ends up being good we'll end up with one of the best first year draft classes ever lol. Hampton has shown nothing even in preseason and I like Keir Thomas but for some reason the coaches don't like something he's doing outside of preseason games because he keeps getting buried to the practice squad. Likely will have to just make due barring some Snead magic acquiring someone like Burns finally.
As much as I'd love to see Snead pull off a team friendly deal for an elite Edge Rusher in the next week or two, I'm thinking it's just not in the cards until we hit free agency 2024. In the meantime, there must be an available cheap free agent who can improve on our Hoecht situation, even if just for the remainder of this season. I might give consideration to someone like Ben Banogu, the 2019 2'nd rounder who had 2 1/2 sacks as a rookie with 271 snaps and has barely seen the field since then.
Mathis has the frame you want in an Edge OLB, but will we see him anytime soon ? I'm sure we don't want to aggravate that knee, and even if ready to come off of IR, being a rookie missing the pre-season will likely necessitate a lengthy period to get up to speed. I don't really expect to see him until after the BYE week, if then.
A cheap veteran alternative to Hoecht may not be the best answer to our problem, but there has to be something we can do.
jmo.