Miami Dolphins Scout’s Take: OT Cedric Ogbuehi
Dec 31, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas A
In our second week of Scout’s Take, we will continue our look at offensive linemen the Miami Dolphins may target within the first round of May’s NFL Draft.
Cedric Ogbuehi, who spent his junior season playing right tackle for the Texas A&M Aggies, will be looked at as a potential first round selection. He has size, athleticism, and solid mechanics, which are all traits that teams will covet.
Here is a more in depth look at big ol’ #70:
Sep 21, 2013; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A
Name: Cedric Ogbuehi
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 300 pounds
School: Texas A&M
Class: Junior
Draft Stock: Moderate, but could rise if Auburn LT Greg Robinson returns to school.
Draft Range: Picks 15-32
Strengths:
Ogbuehi is a solid athlete for a guy his size, which seems to be a recurring theme for this year’s first round crop of tackles. He’s an athlete at the tackle position which certainly boosts his stock for teams looking to add some spice into their offensive scheme.
This kid, similar to Luke Joeckle and Jake Matthews, has some great footwork. I don’t know what they’re putting in the water at this school, but they’re pumping out some seriously good tackles with merely flawless footwork.
One thing that college offensive linemen seem to struggle with is realizing stunts, and then being able to trade off men on the fly during a stunt. Ogbuehi does a great job when facing stunts, which is probably another key reason why he’s receiving a first round grade.
Along with being a good athlete, he bends well at the hips and possesses a good punch when first making contact with his assignment.
The last thing that Ogbuehi excels at is being able to mirror his man in pass pro. With a quarterback like Johnny Manziel, Ogbuehi and his fellow offensive linemen have been asked to mirror their men in pass pro to allow Manziel to move around in the pocket to extend the play. He’s almost pro ready in this faucet of his game.
Weaknesses:
Although he is very good at mirroring his assignment, he typically struggles to stay with his assignment on a consistent basis. He tends to make contact and then allow his man to get away from him, rather than continuing to fight to stay in front of his man.
I really saw that Ogbuehi tends to struggle while being blitzed, especially by a defensive back or a delayed blitz. Ogbuehi will need some coaching in this area of his game.
The last real weakness I’m seeing from Ogbuehi is, well, weakness. He needs to get stronger and lose some “baby fat”. He has the body type NFL teams and scouts will fall in love with, but he needs to get himself into better condition and needs to add some more strength, similar to, dare I say it, former Miami Dolphin Jonathan Martin when he left Stanford (Don’t think that I am comparing his game to Martin’s, though…).
Ogbuehi will be an interesting name to keep an eye on as the next few months pass. If he can show improvements in his game at his pro day and the NFL scouting combine, he may be able to work his way up into that top 12 range – who doesn’t need some offensive line help!?
Could he be a fit for Miami? I think the staff with have to decide if this kid is an option at left tackle or right tackle. We saw San Diego take a shot with Alabama OT DJ Fluker, who many thought would be a solid fit as a right tackle, in the top 15 last season.
Personally, Miami really needs to nail down the left tackle position first and foremost, and Ogbuehi will need some more polishing before he’s a stud left tackle. Ryan Tannehill can’t take another season of 58 sacks…