The Dallas Cowboys made a big decision when they allowed their franchise cornerstone at left tackle in Tyron Smith to walk in free agency to the New York Jets. Granted, the money to pay Smith had to be sacrificed to pay their young stars, but the effects of Smith’s absence has been felt this season, especially on Thursday night against the New York Giants.
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The Cowboys drafted Tyler Guyton in the first round of the 2024 NFL Drafts as a means to replace Smith, but to this point Guyton has not been as rock solid as the team had hoped. On the season so far Guyton has given up 4 sacks and has been penalized a league high 7 times. All this came to a boiling point on Thursday, and while the Cowboys did escape New York with a win, Guyton was a glaring weakness along the offensive line. Both New York edge rushers in Kayvon Thibodeux and Brian Burns had their way with the rookie. Guyton was called for holding thrice against the duo and struggled to seal them off in the running attack.
While it has been troubling, Guyton has been by no means a bust. It’s important to have patience with rookies, especially at one of the more difficult positions to nail down. Guyton has had his ups and his downs, but he should be able to continue to develop into the bookend tackle that Dallas hoped for when they took him 29th overall.