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NFL Draft: Oklahoma OL Tyler Guyton Goes to Dallas Cowboys
The big, athletic offensive tackle graded out as an elite pass blocker, but lacks major experience as he heads into the NFL.
Oklahoma has another first-rounder, and Bill Bedenbaugh has another notch in his belt.
Offensive tackle Tyler Guyton became the Sooners’ 49th first-round pick in the NFL Draft when he was selected No. 29 overall by the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night in Detroit.
It’s the second year in a row the Sooners have had a tackle picked in the first round after Anton Harrison went No. 27 overall to Jacksonville last year.
OU went 10 years without a first-round offensive lineman (Lane Johnson No. 4 overall to Philadelphia in 2013), but Bedenbaugh, the Sooners’ o-line coach, has now produced back-to-back first-rounders.
Guyton is also the 12th Oklahoma offensive lineman to be drafted in Bedenbaugh’s 10 years in Norman. He's also OU's sixth first-round selection in the last seven years.
“We’re so excited for Tyler, not just for tonight, but for his entire pro football journey ahead,” OU head coach Brent Venables said in a press release. “His growth as an offensive tackle the last few years is amazing and is reflective of the job Coach Bedenbaugh does developing his players and preparing them for the next level. That track record stands alone. Tyler’s got an incredibly bright future and the Cowboys got themselves someone who is going to work hard and make them better. We wish him the absolute best.”
The 6-foot-8, 322-pound Guyton hails from Manor, TX, where he grew up a fan of the Cowboys. He played primarily defensive line in high school as he earned second-team All-District honors and helped lead his team to the state quarterfinals.
Guyton signed with TCU out of high school, redshirting in 2020 as a true freshman (he played in one game) and then playing strictly jumbo packages as a tight end and extra tackle in 2021. Guyton played in eight games as a redshirt freshman, then played in 10 games as a sophomore in 2021, including five starts at offensive tackle.
After the 2021 season, Guyton decided to transfer to Oklahoma, where he enrolled a semester early. According to Pro Football Focus, Guyton played 400 snaps for the Sooners in ’22, and allowed just two sacks and no hits on the quarterback on 191 pass blocking plays. He started the season opener at left tackle, then moved to right tackle for the rest of the season.
Guyton posted a 72.9 pass blocking grade and a 62.1 run blocking grade in his first season in Norman, per PFF.
In 2023, Guyton played in 10 games (nine starts) and logged a career-high 663 offensive snaps. He graded out at 60.5 as a run blocker and 72.9 as a pass blocker on 355 pass blocks, and earned honorable mention All-Big 12 at right tackle.
Guyton played in just 29 career games with only 14 starts, which raised a red flag with some teams.
In his final year at OU, Guyton suffered a head injury late in the season, then sat out the final two games despite having been medically cleared. Guyton then returned for the Alamo Bowl against Arizona, but played a season-low 18 snaps.
Guyton is the first Sooner selected by Dallas since 2020 when wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and defensive lineman Neville Gallimore went in the first and third rounds, respectively.
The second and third rounds of the NFL Draft will take place Friday night, while rounds four through seven will be held Saturday. OU is the only program nationally that has produced at least four NFL Draft picks each of the last 16 years.
Among the Sooners who could expect to be drafted Friday and Saturday are offensive tackle Walter Rouse, center Andrew Raym, guard McKade Mettauer, defensive tackle Jonah Laulu and wide receiver Drake Stoops.
OU Media Relations contributed to this report.
