The Cowboys knew 2023 was going to be an adventure of sorts when they brought 32-year-old Tyron Smith back for another run at the Lombardi. Smith had only played a combined 17 regular season games over the last three seasons, and the last time he logged a full-16, Dak Prescott was still throwing passes at Mississippi State.
Smith’s availability issues resulted in a restructured contract over the offseason. Both sides of the table recognized the situation and worked to resolve it in order for the former All-Pro to stay in Dallas another season. Now at the midpoint of the season, the Cowboys and Smith find themselves back at the table, so to speak, to work out a new solution for their trodden left tackle.
Talking to reporters this week, Mike McCarthy floated the idea the Cowboys may be holding Smith from practices going forward. He indicated special accommodations may be in order for his veteran standout.
Mike McCarthy said it's an option that Tyron Smith won't practice Wednesdays and Thursdays during the season the rest of the way. He missed the walkthrough with an illness today.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) November 8, 2023
The problem hasn’t been Smith’s level of play slipping, it’s been his availability. When he’s been well enough to compete, Smith has generally been a great NFL tackle. Even a bumped, bruised and aged, Smith has been better than what most teams are fielding.
But his health status has been so volatile week to week, the Cowboys almost needed to roster six starting-quality linemen on the team, because whoever was playing OL6 is sure to get starter-level snaps. Look no further than this season where Chuma Edoga, Dallas’ OL6, has 312 snaps already. That’s just two snaps shy of Smith’s season total of 314.
If the Cowboys can preserve Smith by forging practices from here on out, why not make special accommodations for the veteran? The idea of putting him on ice for six days and thawing him out for gameday may not sit well with everyone, but it’s a simple solution to a problem that’s been plaguing them for years.
That’s not to say practices aren’t important. They help the offensive line grow as a unit and they help the unit deal with items such as blocking handoffs against various stunts and blitzes. Missing practice isn’t nothing.
At the same time this needs to be seen as a special circumstance. It’s not about developing Smith – it’s about preserving Smith. And Smith has shown he can walk right into gameday and perform with the best of them.
Tyron Smith yawning on the field pic.twitter.com/fDVtuUUVMa
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) November 8, 2023
After suffering a stinger two weeks ago, Smith missed nearly every practice and a game. He barely got on the field in the leadup to the Eagles game. When he did take the field beforehand, he was just going through the motions. But when the ball was kicked off, Smith was honed in, arguably posting his best game of the season.
How good is Smith?
Timo Riske at PFF broke down OL play this season. As an illustration that all blocking assignments are not created equal, he charted the difficulty of assignments and execution of those said assignments.
Update of my pass block metrics: Offensive tackles pic.twitter.com/AjC0kIeoac
— Timo Riske (@PFF_Moo) November 9, 2023
Smith was not only drawing some of the most difficult assignments in the entire NFL, but he was performing better than just about anyone in his execution.
The Cowboys routinely leave their star LT on an island, demanding he perform against some of the best pass-rushers in the league. And Smith hasn’t just handled it, he’s dominated.
While his run blocking appears to have slipped in the later years, his pass protection is still at unbelievable levels. He’s been nursing various injuries all season and has still found a way to grade as top-10 OT taking on abnormally difficult assignments.
If anything, Jerry Jones should hire a team of people to carry Smith on and off the field each week just to save the unnecessary wear and tear on his all-important tires.
Most are in agreement: if cutting out practice preserves Smith for games, then by all means cut practice. But what most don’t seem to see is that Smith has been getting by with little-to-no practice already and has been preforming at unbelievably high levels.
As long as Smith plays games, the Cowboys are going to be fine.
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