When the Cowboys were once again slotted in the bottom 10 picks of the first round, there was serious concern over the talent they’d be able to acquire. Dallas has had the luxury of not needing to select any particular position the prior two drafts because their star players were all locked into contracts for a few years and the team was doing well.
After another early playoff exit, a free agency period that saw no additions, two OL starters departed and 30 players slated to be free agents next offseason, that luxury was gone. Dallas had to secure OL talent and picking No. 24 meant they were likely going to have to select a player with a second-round grade (as there are normally 15-20 first-round grades in a given class).
And then Dallas traded back from No. 24 in order to acquire an extra third rounder before selected Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton. Guyton was the eighth collegiate offensive tackle taken in the round.
There were concerns, especially considering how unwell 2023’s first-round pick Mazi Smith fared in his rookie campaign.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the regular season. Guyton appears to be yet another Will McClay home run and fans who felt a bit queasy about the transition from future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith, allowed to leave in free agency, can now breath a sigh of relief.
Guyton, who had been dealing with an illness all week leading up to the first exhibition game, performed extremely well when he got his turn against the Los Angeles Rams. Former NFL OT Geoff Schwartz and current analyst recently broke down his film in a 9-minute video.
If you craved watching 9 minutes of the Cowboys rookie LT Tyler Guyton against the Rams in his first preseason game … well I have you covered. His technique is much improved from his Oklahoma tape. Lots to like w/plenty still left to improve after his first snaps in the NFL pic.twitter.com/7uVp3PXiOK
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) August 15, 2024
Schwartz focuses on the improvements Guyton has made in the areas of concern in his college tape, such as an inability to strike and lift edge defenders. He certainly wasn’t perfect in his performance, there’s teaching elements to what Schwartz is identifying, but there’s so much to love about his play once he entered the game. Violence.
Guyton has already followed up that performance with a stout day in joint practice No. 2 with those same Rams.
There will likely be some growing pains, as there always are, but Guyton lined up next to Tyler Smith appears to be a beautiful left side combination for years to come.