The Miami Dolphins have a significant need for pass-rush help. Star edge rushers Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb were both placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to open training camp after suffering season-ending injuries toward the end of the 2023 campaign. And earlier this week, former Pro Bowler Shaq Barrett — who had signed with the Dolphins during free agency — decided to retire rather than continue his career in Miami.
Even with first-round pick Chop Robinson on board, the Dolphins still need more juice on the outside. Enter old friend Emmanuel Ogbah. According to NFL Media, the Dolphins hosted both Ogbah and Yannick Ngakoue for a workout on Monday.
Ogbah, 30, has played eight seasons for the Browns, Chiefs and Dolphins. He has 42.5 sacks during his career, with his two most successful seasons being back-to-back nine-sack campaigns for Miami in 2020 and 2021. He was limited to nine games in 2022 and totaled just one sack, then returned in a part-time role last year (25% of defensive snaps) and rebounded with a 5.5-sack season.
Ngakoue, 29 years old and also an eight-year veteran, has played for the Jaguars, Vikings, Ravens, Raiders, Colts and Bears. His 69.0 careers sacks since entering the NFL in 2016 are the ninth most in the league in that span. Before registering a career-low four sacks in Chicago last season, Ngakoue racked up at least eight sacks in each of his first seven seasons, making him only the fifth player to do since individual sacks became an official statistic in 1982. Three of the other four members of that group are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — Reggie White, Derrick Thomas and DeMarcus Ware — and the fourth — the recently retired Aaron Donald — will certainly be there one day in the near future.
Adding one or both of Ogbah and Ngakoue could increase the potency of Miami’s pass rush rotation, and the Dolphins are obviously already familiar with Ogbah after he played his last four years with the team. While Phillips and Chubb are on the mend, Ogbah and/or Ngakoue could fill valuable roles in new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s system.
