Tyler Smith's Future: Do Dallas Cowboys Know What They're Doing?

Tyler Smith's Future: Do the Dallas Cowboys Know What They're Doing in the NFL Draft and Beyond?

With the Dallas Cowboys moving on from Tyron Smith, a huge question remains at left tackle entering next season. With no current indication an outside free agent signing is on the horizon, two plausible options remain: draft a plug-and-play option at No. 24 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft or move Tyler Smith from left guard to left tackle.

A first-round pick for Dallas in 2022, Smith has lived up to the billing becoming an All-Pro caliber player. Now, will Smith remain inside or be chosen as Smith’s successor protecting Dad Prescott’s blindside?

”Tyler Smith will take another step,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said at the NFL Owners Meetings in Orlando, Florida. “We’ll keep him at guard right now, see how it unfolds, but I thought we took a big step. If you look at the makeup of our offensive line last year where our younger players (were) backups and got to play too. I mean, you can put Brock Hoffman in the same category; he's been here and no one was as close to Tyler Biadasz as he was. So, I think that's a natural step for him to step in there and we'll continue to grow. But we definitely do want to continue to add talent and depth to that room.”

Tyler Smith

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As the depth chart currently stands, there will be a legitimate infusion of youth and inexperience upon Dallas’ offensive line next season. As McCarthy mentioned, Hoffman is in line to replace Biadasz with only two career starts prior as an undrafted free agent. If Smith were to stay at guard, here’s how the starting unit would look on paper for Dallas:

Left Tackle = Rookie, Left Guard = Tyler Smith, Center = Brock Hoffman, Right Guard = Zack Martin, Right Tackle = Terence Steele

That all makes sense. Yet we have owner Jerry Jones still talking about Tyler at left tackle. While that is possible, of course ... it flies in the face of what team officials have been telling CowboysSI.com for months ... and what McCarthy is saying openly.

Admit it, you wonder, too: Do the Cowboys actually know what in the world they are doing here?

At some point early on in this year’s draft, the Cowboys seem likely to address the left side of their offensive line. If the current game plan is to keep Smith inside at guard, drafting a left tackle at No. 24 overall now becomes the top priority.

"As of today. Let's fill up the room, and then we'll look at it,” McCarthy continued Tuesday on Dallas’ offensive line. “I mean, the goal's always get the best five on the field, but we've had this conversation every year since I've been here. So when does that occur, you know? Just look at our training camp last year. You know, we didn't have the five starters practice together until the week of the first game, so it would be nice to have all five of your guys that you feel are going to be starters practice throughout April, May, June and into training camp.”

If the Cowboys can address left tackle early in the draft, they would have a full offseason period with their newly projected starting lineup building chemistry. Smith’s absence will be felt immensely, especially early on with potential rookie growing pains from their draft pick, but it should lead to a greater long-term outcome. As McCarthy said in Orlando on Tuesday, offensive line chemistry is one of the more underrated keys to team success. Now, Dallas has to find it in order to hit the ground running next season.

"The cohesiveness of your offensive line, you look at that statistically or the history of football, equates to winning,” McCarthy said. “So we've had veteran players that aren't going to work a lot in training camp and so we've gone through that, but like I said, we took a big step last year with the youth of that group and it'll be a little younger even again this year. Hopefully, with this group of offensive linemen coming in through the draft, I mean, it'd be great to add to that room. It's an excellent room. It's a room that will definitely improve just based on who's in there today, but yeah, we'd like to continue to add to that.”

Whatever the Cowboys decide to do to finish off their remodeled offensive line, it’s been made abundantly clear the first-time Pro Bowl nominee in Smith is a key pillar now and into the future.