Dolphins sign a second veteran tackle. And what Dolphins are getting in Wynn and tackle outlook

The Dolphins added their second former veteran offensive tackle in as many days on Monday, agreeing to a deal with Cedric Ogbuehi, who has started 35 games for five teams since entering the league in 2015.

Ogbuehi, who is 6-5 and 306 pounds, has started only nine games since 2017 and is no sure thing to make the roster.

He spent the start of last season on Houston’s practice squad before the Jets signed him to their 53-man roster on Sept. 27.

He started five games and appeared in seven for the Jets last season, playing all 286 of his snaps at right tackle and permitting one sack and 14 pressures. He spent much of December on injured reserve with a groin injury.

The Jets re-signed him in April but released him last week after adding two offensive linemen, including former Dolphin Billy Turner.

Ogbuehi appeared in only three games in 2021 -- two for Baltimore and one for Seattle. In 2020, he appeared in eight games for Seattle and started four, permitting one sack in 276 snaps at right tackle.

During his career he has 21 starts at right tackle and 14 at left tackle. His most extensive work as a starter came in 2016 and 2017 for the Bengals, who selected him 21st overall in the 2015 draft.

Ogbuehi joins Isaiah Wynn as new offensive tackles on the roster.

In their move from Brandon Shell to Wynn (or far less likely, Ogbuehi) as their 1B right tackle (also known as “competition for Austin Jackson”), the Dolphins are getting younger.

Whether they’re getting better is questionable.

Shell, last season, started 11 games at right tackle and Wynn started seven games in his first season at right tackle before a foot injury prematurely ended his season.

Here’s how Shell and Wynn compared last season:

Overall: Pro Football Focus rated Shell 49th and Wynn 72nd among 81 qualifying tackles. Edge: Shell

Pass blocking: Shell permitted two sacks but 40 pressures in 472 pass blocking chances.

Wynn permitted four sacks and 17 pressures in 229 pass blocking chances.

Edge: Shell, though Shell’s pressure numbers were too high.

Run blocking: PFF rated Shell 14th and Wynn 40th as a run blocker. Edge: Shell.

And yet the Dolphins so far have bypassed re-signing Shell, who had interest in returning and remains unsigned.

Why the Dolphins opted for the 27-year-old Wynn over the 31-year-old Shell isn’t clear.

But these are two meaningful advantages that Wynn has, besides his age: 1) He’s probably a better left tackle than Shell, and that’s important because Terron Armstead has missed games every year of his career, including four last season.

Wynn is expected to challenge Jackson for the starting job at right tackle. Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, who agreed to terms with Wynn on Sunday, said weeks ago that Jackson is expected to be the starter at right tackle.

2) Wynn can also play guard, which gives the Dolphins another option if Liam Eichenberg, Dan Feeney or Rob Jones doesn’t seize the job, or if there’s an injury. Wynn was a left guard in his first three seasons at Georgia before moving to tackle.

▪ After missing his first season (2018) after sustaining a torn Achilles in preseason, Wynn started 33 games - all at left tackle - over the next three seasons, and he graded out pretty well.

PFF graded him a top 15 tackle in 2020 and a top 30 tackle in 2021.

In 2021 (the only season when he was healthy for more than 10 games), he played all 914 snaps at left tackle. He allowed six sacks (tied for 14th most among tackles) and 28 pressures.

In 10 games (all starts) in 2020, he played 616 snaps at left tackle (allowing three sacks) and 25 at left guard. Those were his only guard snaps as a NFL player.

In eight games (all starts) in 2019, he played all 502 snaps at left tackle and permitted two sacks.

▪ The big concern is health. After missing all of his rookie year with the Achilles injury, he missed significant time with toe and knee injuries in 2019 and 2020, then missed the final seven games last season with the foot injury.

Counting on two players with injury histories to hold down right tackle is risky.

Jackson played in only two games last season because of ankle injuries.

But the Dolphins have four other options if both Wynn and Jackson are injured or unproductive:

Ogbuehi (more of a journeyman at this point in his career); Kendall Lamm, who gave Miami a good half as a starting left tackle in the Patriots game before an ankle injury; Geron Christian (who started eight games for Washington in 2019-20 and eight for Houston in 2021); and right guard Rob Hunt, who started at right tackle in the playoff game against Buffalo.

The Dolphins have said they prefer to keep Hunt at right guard.

Lamm has started 29 games in his career but just five since 2018.

▪ One other concern with Wynn, who was drafted 23rd overall by New England in 2018: Penalties. He had nine each of the past two seasons, over 22 games.

▪ The Patriots benched Wynn during their Oct. 2 game against Green Bay last season, after he allowed two sacks and was called for two penalties. But he was back in the starting lineup the following week against Detroit.

But he struggled and lost his starting job to Marcus Cannon for three games before his foot injury.

Among the low points: On Oct. 16 against Cleveland, he allowed four pressures and a sack and had a false start in 22 pass blocking snaps. He wasn’t even on the active list the following week against Chicago.

He spent the following two games as a backup, regained his starting job for one game against the Jets on Nov. 20 but was injured in that game and missed the final seven games.

Wynn’s former offensive line coach, Dante Scarnecchia, suggested on a radio interview last October that moving to a new team would help him.

“I absolutely think he is savable,” Scarnecchia told WEEI’s “The Greg Ill” Show in that interview. “But he’s in the Twilight Zone right now. ...

“It doesn’t look like the way things are going, it’s going to go very well for him here. Wherever he ends up, whatever happens, I hope it’s in his best interest and he gets the most out of his career.”

▪ The Dolphins signed former Saints defensive back Bryce Thompson, who played this season for the XFL team in Seattle.

As a cornerback, Thompson had eight interceptions in three seasons at Tennessee and signed with the Saints after going undrafted in 2021 but played sparingly for New Orleans over the past two seasons, logging 88 snaps on special teams and six on defense in eight games.

Per PFF’s Ryan Smith, Thompson was targeted 60 times in the XFL this season and yielded 38 receptions for 463 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.