There are many ways for a smart coach to make things easier on his passing offense and the Cowboys may need to consider changes with a rookie left tackle in tow. Motion at the snap, rub routes, RPOs, screen passes, and play-action are just a few of the ways to get the ball out quickly, accurately, and to the first read. Teams with young or limited quarterbacks will lean on these tricks often. It puts them in position to succeed because it makes things quick and easy.
Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys haven’t seen a need for tricks such as this. Dak Prescott is one of the smarter QBs in the league, well known for his accurate pre-snap reads. His ability to stand in the pocket, move through progressions and deliver timely passes is some of the best in the NFL. Prescott’s 480 attempts in non-play-action dropbacks ranked sixth in the NFL in 2023. His passing grade of 87.5 in these situations ranked second league-wide, trailing only Patrick Mahomes.
What does any of this have to do with Tyler Guyton?
Everything.
Standard pass sets in a gimmick-free offense means maximum exposure for pass-protecting linemen. Play-action buys time with the run fake and first-read schemed passes keep the TTT down, but pass protecting in true pass sets ups the difficulty level for passers and pass protectors alike.
Guyton comes to Dallas as an abnormally inexperienced first-round draft pick. He’s raw in his development and untested in many responsibilities. Per Pro Football Focus, he only has 111 true pass set snaps which make up only 20 percent of his overall workload (lowest in his class).
Assuming he wins the starting LT job, the Cowboys will try to protect Guyton as much as possible, but since they can’t protect him all the time, he’ll have his work cut out for him in 2024.
Guyton’s pressure rate allowed at Oklahoma was a trusty 3.3%. It wasn’t as good as class leaders Joe Alt or Olu Fashanu, but it put him in elite company. That number slips, however, when just looking at true pass sets. His pressure rate in true pass sets balloons to 6.2% making for a significant swing from one type of blocking assignment to the next.
Recent draft picks with a college pressure rate of over 6.2% in true pass sets are players like Charles Cross, Christian Darrisaw, Andrew Thomas and Mechi Becton. It’s a concern but based on the names listed, it’s hardly a death sentence.
Given Guyton’s extremely limited experience in true pass sets, McCarthy may want to meet him halfway in his blocking assignments. Engineering more first-read plays on the back of motion and play-action is a great way to simplify things for Guyton as a rookie. A steady dose of screen passes is another previously prescribed solution.
At the end of the day, playing on an island in true pass sets is going to be an unavoidable reality for the rookie LT. It’s something to monitor in training camp because if he’s not up the task the offense may have to fundamentally change.
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