The Cowboys are returning all five of their starting offensive lineman from the 2025 season, but left tackle Tyler Guyton isn’t assured to maintain his job after a disappointing begin to his profession.
Guyton, 24, played right tackle at Oklahoma before he was drafted by the Cowboys in the primary round (No. 29 overall) of the 2024 draft. He was asked to flip to the left side in Dallas, a switch that clearly didn’t take instantly. He allowed six sacks as a rookie with an overall grade of just 50.4, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), while also committing 18 penalties. There have been some improvements in 2025, though he only began 10 games on account of a season-ending ankle injury. Guyton surrendered two sacks, improved his grade to 57.5, and reduced his penalty count to seven. Still, that isn’t the extent of play expected for a first-round pick or accepted for the protector of the blind side of the league’s most costly quarterback.
In consequence, the Cowboys are poised to carry a contest for the starting left tackle job this summer, in response to The Athletic’s Jon Machota. 2024 seventh-round pick Nathan Thomas and Drew Shelton, a fourth-rounder on this yr’s draft, may also vie for the job.
Thomas, 24, took over for Guyton after he landed on injured reserve, but was benched after allowing 23 pressures and three sacks with a 93.5 pass blocking efficiency, per PFF. 2022 first-rounder Tyler Smith moved over from left guard to shut out the season and allowed just five pressures and one sacks across three games.
Dallas intends to maintain Smith at guard, where he has earned three straight Pro Bowl nods after an uneven rookie yr at left tackle, his college position. This could maintain a solid interior trio of Smith, center Cooper Beebe, and right guard Tyler Booker (with Terence Steele set to return at right tackle).
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elton, 22, began at left tackle for the Nittany Lions for a lot of the last 4 years with some split duties on the fitting side in 2023. His grades steadily improved throughout his college profession, as much as 70.6 as a senior in 2025, when he allowed only one sack and 0 quarterback hits. He’s a solid athlete, but his 33.4-inch arms are below NFL standards for the position. Pre-draft evaluations pegged him for a swing tackle role early in his profession with potential to grow right into a starter, but he can have a shot on the job instantly.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer praised Shelton’s “smooth footwork” and athleticism on the team’s rookie minicamp and confirmed that he can be competing with Guyton and Thomas this summer.
“We identical to the traits, and we bet on a man that’s played, I feel, 34 starts,” Schottenheimer said (via Machota). “We expect we are able to get him in here to compete with among the guys we got.”
A comparatively unheralded fourth-round pick looks like an extended shot to begin at left tackle as a rookie, however the team’s other options don’t encourage much confidence. And if not one of the three can emerge as a starting-caliber player, Dallas could still pivot back to Smith and put a distinct player at left guard, though again, that could be a situation they would favor to avoid.