After weeks and weeks of their fans arguing whether Zion Johnson or Kenyon Green would be a better 24th overall selection, the Cowboys drafted Tyler Smith in the first round on Thursday night.
And before the clock struck midnight, the team’s brain trust was arguing to Dallas media that the Tulsa tackle was who they were targeting all along.
Owner Jerry Jones even held up a printout of the Cowboys’ draft sheet to try to prove it.
“We have both of them- this was printed three days ago- below him,” Jones told reporters Thursday night at The Star. “Both of those players are below him.”
The pick came as a surprise to many fans, who thought the club might refocus their attention to wide receiver or edge rusher once the consensus offensive linemen were off the board by the time Dallas was on the clock. Smith had been considered a second-round talent by most experts, a raw player who might sneak into the very end of the first round, at best.
The Cowboys maintain they had him ranked much higher than that.
“We picked the 16th player on our board with the 24th pick,” Jones said. “We call it a good night. We got a player that we thought has as much upside as anybody that was on the board.”
He went on to tease that the team gave “strong consideration” to choosing a defensive player; there were several top prospects available at 24.
“We had, though, predetermined that he was, even against defense,” Jones said of Smith, “the leader in the clubhouse if we had a choice.”
Stephen Jones revealed earlier in the week that the Cowboys front office had issued “somewhere between 14 and 16” first-round grades this year. So Jerry’s assertion that Smith was listed 16th begs the question: did Dallas truly have the Fort Worth native as a first-round talent, or was he just a little bit of a reach for a team in desperate need of up-front blocking?
“We gave him a grade that we knew, more than likely, we would take him in the first round. Now, that’s meely-mouthed,” Jerry admitted. “We knew that we were going to have to take him in the first round.”
Ah. Obviously, giving a prospect a first-round draft score is different from acknowledging that the prospect will likely be drafted- by somebody– in the first round.
But it’s all just splitting hairs on the morning after. Smith is the pick, and the team is committed to him, even if they don’t know exactly where he’ll line up this fall.
Smith played left tackle for the Golden Hurricane. His film says he has the ability to play guard, too. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said both positions will be in Smith’s repertoire.
“Tyler will come in and he will have position flex and he will be a left-side player,” the coach explained at the post-draft presser. “So an opportunity to rep at both left guard and left tackle.”
“We think he can be our left tackle for a long time, at some point in time,” added Stephen Jones. “Obviously, we have the best in business now in Tyron Smith.”
But given that the T. Smith who’s an eight-time Pro Bowler hasn’t played a full season since 2015, the T. Smith who just turned 21 may get his chance there soon.
From a physical standpoint, Tyler Smith has all the tools to succeed at the pro level. And although he was not one of the team’s official 30 visits or a Dallas day participant, McCarthy says the Cowboys got a good look at him during a private workout and meeting.
“Joe Philbin [the Cowboys offensive line coach] had the chance to spend time with him,” McCarthy said. “The classroom work is obviously important. We felt great about what he put on video, but the personal workout does give you a chance to get a closer look and particularly spend one-on-one time. Obviously, he had high marks in all of that.”
“He’s a big, athletic, physical man that’s going to play in a big, athletic, physical league,” offered vice president of player personnel Will McClay. “And that’s what we liked about him.”
Early comparisons have already been made to Erik Williams, the former tackle who played ten years for the Cowboys dynasty of the ’90s and won three Super Bowl rings.
“He’s one of the nastiest that ever played through here,” Stephen said of Williams, referring to his famed mean streak. “And La’el Collins had that to him. Certainly, we’re going to miss that with La’el, but certainly he brings this to the table, Smith does. That was the top of the redeeming qualities in him. One of many.”
One of the knocks on him, though, is a penchant for penalties. Smith was flagged 16 times in 13 games last fall. That’s especially concerning, since he’ll be joining a squad that itself was the most penalized team in the NFL last year.
“I’m definitely aware of his performance last year,” McCarthy confessed. “We need to focus on penalties. We’ve taken those steps already in our offseason program as far as an an emphasis on things we need to do better, particularly in the areas of fundamentals. Tyler will be part of that program when he gets here, and I don’t have any concerns.”
“And he did play against some good competition,” added Stephen. “He played against Ohio State, Oklahoma, Cincinnati.”
Cowboys fans hope Smith will fare better in that category than Connor Williams, the Metroplex lineman who was drafted early by the Cowboys in 2018 and was let go earlier this offseason in part due to an overabundance of penalties- 15- in 2021.
“He has a tremendous ceiling,” McCarthy continued on Smith. “Some of his mistakes- penalties- were of aggressive nature; those are the ones you’d rather be dealing with: combative, things that you can learn from.”
McCarthy and Jerry went on talk about the difficulty that most offensive linemen have when transitioning from the college game to the pros, saying no position- with the possible exception of quarterback- has a steeper learning curve to playing well at the next level.
The Cowboys coaching staff will have plenty to do to bring Smith along, just as they would have with Johnson or Green or any of the other supposedly top offensive linemen.
“I don’t care who you draft at offensive line,” Jerry claimed, “you’ve got some work to do.”
Still, a small-school prospect who draws a lot of flags and was taken earlier than most experts had projected represents a significant gamble by the Dallas brass.
Turns out it was a gamble they almost didn’t take.
The Joneses confirmed Thursday night that they were fielding phone calls right up until the end about trading out of the 24th slot.
“We had three calls,” Jerry said, “and entertained trading [back] on at least two, or maybe three, of the last three picks.”
One team, who was not identified, was reportedly trying to jump up to grab Smith.
“I happen to be good friends with the team that was calling,” Stephen said. “He sent me a text right after we picked him and said, ‘Be glad you didn’t trade with us. That was our guy.'”
Instead, Tyler Smith ends up as the Cowboys’ guy.
It may take a little longer, though, for the fans to also adopt him.
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