As his agent had predicted two days earlier, Emmanuel Ogbah did not get the franchise tag from the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday, putting him on schedule to test the free agent market next week.
Agent Drew Rosenhaus said his client was prepared to explore his options, which raises the possibility that the Dolphins might end up losing the services of arguably their second-best defensive player the past two seasons behind only cornerback Xavien Howard.
And while it's fine to say the Dolphins would be wise not to overpay for Ogbah, who they signed to a two-year, $15 million contract as a UFA in March 2020, they'll have to find a suitable replacement if he does indeed end up leaving for another team.
Interestingly, Ogbah is the only player on the current Dolphins roster listed as a defensive end besides newcomer Daeshon Hall.
You'll often find Ogbah listed as an edge defender on lists of pending free agents, but the reality is that he lined up in a three-point stance almost exclusively as opposed to being a standup edge rusher like teammates Andrew Van Ginkel, Brennan Scarlett, pending UFA Vince Biegel and, to a lesser degree, Jaelan Phillips.
So if we're looking for a potential replacement for Ogbah, let's start with someone with a similar skill set, a good pass rusher with some run-stopping ability on the edge, and if he happens to be 6-4, 275 like Ogbah even better.
To that end, here are some names to watch both in free agency and later in the draft:
TOP EDGE DEFENDERS IN FREE AGENCY
• Chandler Jones, Arizona: Yes, Jones is a tad older than ideal at 32 and he won't come cheap, but he remains an elite pass rusher.
• Jadeveon Clowney, Cleveland: The Dolphins have flirted with the idea of bringing in Clowney before and he's coming off an impressive nine-sack season for the Browns. And he's always been a very good run defender.
• Randy Gregory, Dallas: It took a while for the talented but troubled Gregory (he's been suspended four times by the NFL) to get his career going, but he has become a very good pass-rushing specialist — he had six sacks in 12 games last season.
• Haason Reddick, Carolina: The former first-round pick was a bust for his first three years in the NFL, but he reached double digits each of the past two seasons. This is somebody who's pretty much a pass-rushing specialist.
• Derek Barnett, Philadelphia: The former first-round pick is not coming off a very good year for the Eagles, but he had six sacks in both 2019 and 2020 and has shown flashes, plus he also will turn only 26 in June.
TOP EDGE DEFENDERS IN THE 2022 NFL DRAFT
If the Dolphins look to the draft to find a potential replacement for Ogbah, they're going to lose out on some prospects if they stay put at number 29 in the first round, and we immediately can think of Jermaine Johnson from Florida State and potentially George Karlaftis from Purdue, along with the obvious ones like Aidan Hutchinson and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
If any of them were to be available at 29, they would merit serious consideration for an Ogbah-less Dolphins team.
More realistic possibilities at that spot, though, would include:
• David Ojabo, Michigan: While he's a bit raw and nowhere the prospect that Hutchinson is at this time, Ojabo has a lot of upside as a pass rusher.
• Logan Hall, Houston: This is an interesting prospect with great size (6-6, 283) who played inside in college but looks like a perfect fit as a 3-4 defensive end.
• Zach Carter, Florida: At 6-4, 282, Carter has similar dimensions as Ogbah and brings a lot of versatility to the defensive line with the ability to line up outside or move inside in a four-man front.
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March 10, 2022 at 12:41AM
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Potential Replacements if Dolphins Lose Emmanuel Ogbah - Sports Illustrated
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