Cowboys LT Tyler Guyton is Quietly Becoming the NEXT Tyron Smith?

Cowboys LT Tyler Guyton is Quietly Becoming the NEXT Tyron Smith?

So, I would like to think that we’ve talked about quite a bit of stuff on this channel since the end of the 2024 season, and I promise I’m working on a a few more position group breakdowns, but I feel like we’ve been avoiding one major piece to the Cowboys 2025 season and their success. Last year, Dallas decided to let Tyron Smith walk. It was just time to move on. With the injuries, the age, there were legit concerns about how long he could play at a high level. So, he signed with the New York Jets and Aaron Rodgers. But after Tyron left, the Cowboys didn’t do anything in free agency to really sh up the left tackle spot. So they kind of put all of their chips into one basket with a first round tackle. And that’s when they selected Tyler Gayton, who had played in just 20 games at right tackle at Oklahoma in the Big 12 before Dallas selected him in the first round. And I would say that we all found out pretty quickly that it was gonna it was going to take some time for Gayton to get up to speed and acclimate to the NFL. He was switching from the right to the left. He was fixing technique issues. They were asking him to be a day one starter. That’s a recipe for disaster if you ask me. But in today’s video, I wanted to talk about Gton’s secondyear leap because once again, Dallas is going to be relying on him for offensive efficiency. And I think he’s going to have a leap that is probably going to surprise a ton of people. He’s been getting his body right. He trusts his new coaches. And he’s been working with a Cowboys Hall of Famer in Tyron Smith. Let’s get into it. [Music] To really break down Tyler Gayton as a player, we have to give a sort of baseline, right? Like where are we starting at? First off, he has elite athleticism. The traits are unbelievable. He is made to be an NFL tackle. At 6’6, 6’7, 322 lbs. He has excellent mobility. His athletic testing ranked anywhere from the 60th to 90th percentile at the NFL combine. He’s got really quick feet, long arms, his upper body strength is good. All of it just is made for the NFL. But as we all know, the most athletic guys don’t always have the best NFL careers. But it does mean something as far as a starting point. You’re starting with an absolute unit. Now, it’s going to be about getting those mechanics and the technique down, and then we might be cooking with something. So, when you look at the PFF grades from 2024, and please remember, guys, we only like PFF grades if they go in our favor and help us win an argument, right? No, seriously. Right. As you guys know, I’m not I’m not the biggest PFF believer, but I do think these grades kind of reflect how his rookie season went. His overall grade of a 49.4 ranked 115th out of 140 qualifying NFL tackles. His pass blocking grade of a 60.2 was 81st out of 140 tackles. And his run blocking grade of 51.3, ranked 116th among 140 tackles last year. He played a total of 668 offensive snaps last year, which was 56th most in the league. He also allowed six sacks and was responsible for 26 total pressures, which ranked 120th in the league. So, it wasn’t a great start. I’m not going to say that there weren’t any flashes in 20 24. Like, there were good moments, especially early on in camp. Gayton was holding up against Micah. He played well in one-on-one reps with Jared Verse. There were bright moments in the preeason as well. It’s just as we got into the regular season, the flaws kind of started to show up more and more. And that’s the thing with the NFL, right? It’s really how it works with every sport in the world. You can have flashes, but it’s going to be about finding that consistency, especially the second hardest position in the NFL. People will argue that it’s just behind the quarterback position because it’s such a thankless one. You don’t really think about that guy unless he’s giving up sacks. And if he’s not giving up sacks, you kind of forget that he is as important as he is. We all knew Tyron Smith was great, but there would be games and games and games where you just don’t really think about him because he’s so solid over there and there’s no pressure from that side, so why even worry about the left tackle spot. It’s also really tough for an NFL tackle because you’re going against these insane athletes with all the athletic ability. They’re getting to rush the passer 35, 40, 45 times a game and you got to hold up throughout it. Like if an NFL tackle gave up an average of one sack per game throughout the season, they’re no longer going to be in the NFL. They’re going to get cut. You can’t be be a tackle giving up one sack per game. You give up 17 throughout the year. On the other hand, if you’re an NFL pass rusher and you can average one sack per game throughout the season, you’re going to be leading the league in sacks and you’re probably on your way to being a Hall of Famer. So, it’s a tough job. It’s a tough business and it’s why it’s such an important position because it can really make or break your offense. And I think that’s why people were questioning why the Cowboys took Gton so early or just kind of that was the tackle left for them so they took him because the technique coming out of college was inconsistent. He was bending at the waist. He was reaching for his blocks, overextending. His feet were really phenomenal. Like he had no problem mirroring defenders. It was just getting his body in a good position to make a block and not get ran through or overextending a guy swim move around him. Maybe some people are scarred from his rookie season. They think he’s kind of over. And it tends to happen with these young guys. Like these guys are 22, 23, 24 years old. And even at that age, he only played 20 games in the Big 12 at right tackle and you move them over to the left side and you’re asking him to start and be Tyron Smith. Like that’s a tough thing for anybody. But this off season after Brian Shottenheimer got hired and he hired Clayton Adams and Connor Riley, we’ve seen and heard a lot about Gayton’s progress going into year two. We’ve seen him working out. It looks like he’s doing a better job of taking care of his body. And I thought his interview at the Star was really interesting when they were doing OTAA’s mini camp. He talked about getting his body to 1,000% that he’s focused on preparing and taking care of himself physically for NFL games and and the process that he’s been doing to get there. That’s all great. I don’t think the physical stuff was the problem. And Gayton talked about that as well. He mentioned the mental aspect of the game. being able to handle adversity, being able to put those missteps in the past, and just learning how to accept that you lost a rep and then just move forward with it. The mental part is going to be his biggest shadow when going into training camp and eventually the regular season because he has the tools. He’s a guy that’s probably been one of the best players on his team for the entirety of his career. He gets into the NFL and he starts struggling and questioning himself and questioning his technique. So getting a guy like that back mentally focused, not worrying about what happened in 2024, more so focused on 2025. It seems like he’s going in the correct direction with that and he’s he’s checking that off of his box. Mentally, he’s checked off physical profile. That’s a check. We know how athletic he is. He’s talking about getting his body right. Now, it’s going to be about getting the technique and really fine-tuning some of the things that he struggles with. And who better to learn from future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith. That’s right. Gayton’s been working with Tyron Smith. This is a dream come true right here. I was thinking about that last year. Like if he was playing in 2025, he probably wouldn’t be working with Gayton that much. He’d be focused on getting his body right, hanging out with his kids before the NFL season started. But now that he’s retired, kind of wants to stay in football. He gets to go hang out with Gayton. Gets to work out. gets to help him be the best player that he can possibly be. So, of course, Tyron was asked about it, how it was working with Gayton, and Tyron said, quote, “He wants to put in the work. He just needs a little technique work, which he’s doing right now. I feel like it’s going to be a different type of year for him to slow the game down and get the rookie nerves out. I think he’s building more confidence in his technique because he’s learning a lot more now. I’ve told him before, I want you to be better than I ever did it. It makes me feel good that another guy is wanting to strive to be better than me. Better than Tyron. If he’s even 80% of Tyron, I think we’d be rolling here. What I was talking about, Tyron pretty much broke it down. Like, he’s got to get better with the technique. He’s gaining more confidence, getting those rookie nerves out. He’s a guy that wants to get better. Like, all the things that we talked about to start this video is exactly what Tyron knows or has learned from working with him. I mean, how great is it that you have a future Hall of Fame left tackle that wants to help out a young guy that’s also at left tackle that also has limitless athletic ability, a guy with all of the tools. There’s just certain things that need to be tweaked here and there. And who’s going to know better than than Smith? You’re learning from one of, if not the best to ever do it. I was thinking about how could Tyron really help Gayton with facing adversity. like Tyron was so good it felt like you never had a game where you’re like ah Tyron really struggled then he had to come back the next week and prove himself like that never happened but according to PFF when I started digging into it Smith surrendered eight sacks in his rookie season and then never allowed more than five in any following season. So when Tyron was a rookie, I was 11 years old, so I wasn’t really familiar with a ton of offensive line play. Like I just wanted to see the Cowboys win. But I didn’t realize that Smith struggled that bad as a rookie. Like giving up eight sacks isn’t insane, but definitely not like a great start to a career. Not a Hall of Fame start, right? But that is facing adversity. And we’re also talking about a guy that moved from right tackle over to left tackle over to right tackle. Like they were moving him around, but he was at right tackle when he gave up those eight sacks and then they moved him to left tackle after his rookie year. I would say that Tyron does understand adversity, especially in your rookie year, putting it all behind you, getting the technique down, getting more comfortable in the league, and then not giving up, you know, eight sacks. Now, as we get into the last little portion of this video, I wanted to talk about what Gton’s play means for the 2025 season. The offense, Dak, CD, Pickkins, everything that we want to work so well this year with the the deep passing game, and George Pickkins is another weapon, and Dak finally has help. All of that might hinge on Tyler Gayton because Dak Prescott has always been more accurate, more decisive. His footwork is better, his timing is better. He’s been a better quarterback with a good left tackle. I want you to take a look at this graph that I just put up on the screen. Maybe there’s an updated version of this somewhere. I didn’t look for it, but I’m sure there is. This was posted in 2022, and it’s Dak’s career with Tyron Smith on and off the field. And just look at these numbers. Some of these stats are doubled, but every single one of them increased without Tyron because he just never had that level of player on the field when Tyron wasn’t. and the sample size because Smith was getting hurt so regularly. Like we had a really good sample size of what Dak was like when he wasn’t worried about his blind side and what he was like when he was worried about it. And I really wish I could find for you guys the post that I’m thinking about um with Dak’s stat sheet numbers, what how different they really were with and without Tyron, like his passing yards, interceptions, touchdowns, just how many points the Cowboys offense was scoring with and without Tyron or at least a formidable left tackle. Now, I think it has gotten a little bit better. I think an older Dak Prescott understands kind of how to finesse if your offensive line isn’t blocking as well. A younger Dak, he’d bail out of the pocket or he make a bad decision or he would just get flustered from that Chaz Green game. But maybe you think I’m being a bit hyperbolic about the offense hinging on Gayton, but I don’t I don’t think so. Like it’s super important, especially, and I know we don’t want to talk about this, but especially when you have your quarterback that has faced injuries over the past half decade. Like, you got to keep that dude upright all year long if you want a chance this season. And you just don’t want it to come from your left tackle losing a rep. Dak doesn’t see it coming. Like, that’s not what you want. But you also don’t want Dak to get flustered throughout a game because Gayton’s already gotten beat two times in the first quarter and every single snap, every single drop back, it’s in Dak’s head. He’s got a clock in his head saying, “Got to get the ball out. Got to get the ball out.” You just don’t want that. You want him to sit back there, be comfortable with the guys he’s got in front of him because you’re going to have Tyler Smith, Cooper BB, Tyler Booker at right guard, Terrence Steel is a pretty decent pass protector. He’s gotten better over what, the past year or so since that knee injury. like he’s kind of come around, but if Dax’s woring about that left tackle spot, none of that’s going to matter. No matter how well the front of the pocket holds up, he might be able to slide up, but that internal clock is going to be ticking. So, I’m really excited uh to see Gayton out there on the field in Oxnard. It’s going to be a ton of fun to see how well he’s progressed, all the things that he’s done this off seasonason, getting his body right, getting the mental aspect right, working with Tyron Smith, and we’re going to get to see all of that versus some really, really fun pass rushers from Dallas. Like, we’re going to know pretty early on if he’s really improved that much. Micah, Marshon Neland, Donovan Ezaraku, Dante Fowler, Sam Williams, like when he gets out there in Oxnard, he’s going to be facing some really good players. That is a gauntlet at edge. One-on- ons, 11 on1s. We’re going to get to see it all. So, if he’s really improved, he’s going to go out there and have to block those guys every day in July and August. And I think by September, we might be surprised by how comfortable we feel with him at left tackle. Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed, please be sure to leave a like and subscribe to the channel. Go check me out on Patreon. It’s the top comment on this video with the link. We’re posting videos over there, you know, all 22. I just did one on Savon Rell. I talked about Sam Williams and why I don’t think he’s going to be back and better than ever like everyone else. Videos that I don’t post here on YouTube. It’s exclusive content along with game day chats and so much more. So, if you’re interested, please go down there, hit that link, and sign up. It’s as low as $1. If you just want to be a part of a community, have other Cowboys fans to talk to me. You talk to me in the group chats, all of that stuff. So, thank you for watching. I love you all and I’ll see you very soon. Hopefully. Hopefully. I’m not wishing my life away, but training camp will hurry up. I love you all.

The #DallasCowboys have a LOT of pressure this season, and a lot of that hinges on TYLER GUYTON, protecting Dak Prescott, so he can work with his number 1 weapons in Ceedee Lamb, and George Pickens…

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