What will Cowboys do at left tackle until Tyler Guyton returns?

New York Times

6 days ago

OXNARD, Calif. — For about an hour on Monday it sounded as if the Dallas Cowboys were going to be without starting left tackle Tyler Guyton for the entire season.
Guyton injured his right knee during the team drill portion of Monday's practice. He walked slowly to the locker room to be further evaluated. Three hours later, the NFL Network reported that Guyton was feared to have torn his anterior cruciate ligament. Forty minutes later a source informed The Athletic that Guyton was still being examined and the results were looking 'much better than initially thought.'
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Sources later confirmed that Guyton suffered a bone fracture and sprained knee. The difference in the two injuries is that a torn ACL would need to be surgically-repaired, ending Guyton's second NFL season before it ever really started. His actual injury does not require surgery and has a four-to-six week recovery timeline. While it might be too much to ask for him to be ready for the season opener in five weeks, Guyton could potentially be back for Week 2 or 3.
Micah Parsons helping Tyler Guyton to the locker room pic.twitter.com/KBv98l3bvZ
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) July 28, 2025
If Guyton had been lost for the season, a bold move could have been in play. That would involve sliding standout left guard Tyler Smith to left tackle. If Guyton is only going to miss a game or two, it makes more sense to keep Smith at guard and find a temporary starting solution at left tackle.
Zack Martin was a nine-time All-Pro right guard. He could've played right tackle, if needed. He filled in there during emergency situations. But at guard, he's a future Pro Football Hall of Famer. The same could end up being true for Smith's career. Can he start at left tackle? Yes. But he might just be a future Hall of Famer at guard. In three seasons, Smith has already been to the Pro Bowl twice and named second-team All-Pro.
The best thing for Dallas' offense is to keep Smith next to center Cooper Beebe and right guard Tyler Booker. The young trio forms a strong interior with excellent size that could play together at a high level for a decade. Moving Smith out to left tackle for the full season would likely mean going with a reserve player like Brock Hoffman, Nate Thomas, Saahdiq Charles or T.J. Bass at guard.
Since Guyton isn't out for the season, Dallas can shift its focus to finding a temporary answer at left tackle, which probably will come from an in-house player. The top candidates include Hakeem Adeniji, Asim Richards, Thomas, rookie Ajani Cornelius or veteran Matt Waletzko. Of that group, Adeniji, 27, has the most experience with 15 NFL starts in 43 games over the last five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns. He was a sixth-round pick in 2020. Richards was a fifth-round pick by the Cowboys in 2023. He has one start in his NFL career, last year against the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium. Thomas is a player who has grabbed the coaching staff's attention over the last few months. He was a seventh-round pick last year. Cornelius was drafted in the sixth round this year. Waletzko, a fifth-round pick in 2022, has struggled to stay healthy.
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Offensive tackle isn't a deep position in the NFL. It's difficult to find two quality starting tackles on one team. The idea that Dallas will find a quality starter on the street or from the group mentioned is wishful thinking. What will likely happen is head coach and offensive play-caller Brian Schottenheimer will have to adjust his offense to make sure quarterback Dak Prescott is getting solid protection on his blind side. That could mean more packages with an extra swing tackle on the field, something we've seen early in camp. It also could lead to even more reps for fullback Hunter Luepke, who has impressed the coaching staff early in camp with his ability to be a fullback, halfback and tight end.
Cowboys LT Tyler Guyton on Dallas' defensive end group: 'They're special, bro. The way they're mixing things up, it really goes to show that Matt Eberflus' defense is one of them ones. We have good players, but also when they're matched up with a good scheme it makes them even… pic.twitter.com/L7aXgYcikq
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) July 28, 2025
While it's good news for Guyton that he isn't lost for the season, it's disappointing because he was starting to put it all together. He said two months ago that he wasn't pleased with his rookie season. Going from playing right tackle in college to left tackle in the NFL wasn't an easy transition. He immediately had his hands full, going from facing elite pass rusher Micah Parsons every day in practice to Las Vegas Raiders elite pass rusher Maxx Crosby in his first preseason game and then Cleveland Browns elite pass rusher Myles Garrett in his first regular-season game.
But the momentum had been trending in a positive direction since the start of the offseason program.
'I want to do better,' Guyton said in late May. 'I want to be a guy that can be depended on. … I'm not gonna make any excuses. I just didn't play as good as I needed to last year. I'm coming with a different attitude this year to become a better player.'
He made changes to his diet, cutting out fast food and replacing it with more vegetables and salmon.
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'My body feels great,' Guyton said after the first practice in full pads on Sunday. 'I feel a big difference from last year to this year in terms of my stamina and my strength on the field going into training camp. Big improvement. …
'My mental is different. I'm feeling good. I'm feeling confident. I'm waking up and praying for confidence and strength. I'm doing things differently.'
His season is not lost. He'll get a chance to continue building in the near future. But for the next month, the Cowboys have to find someone to fill his role. They have 10 more training camp practices in California and three preseason games to figure that out.