Dry rub vs. wet brine for pork shoulder, my 14 hour experiment

I spent last Saturday testing two identical 8 pound shoulders, one with my usual dry rub and one with a wet brine I found in an old Smoke & Spice book. The dry rub sat overnight, the wet brine soaked for 18 hours, both went on my offset at 250 degrees for the same cook. The wet brine one came out noticeably juicier and the salt got deep, but the dry rub had a better bark and that pepper crust I really like. Honestly, the wet brine lost some of the smoke flavor on the outside, and the rub won on texture for pulled pork. For my next brisket, I'm thinking of doing a light wet brine then a dry rub right before, but has anyone else tried combining the two without the meat turning to mush?

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