The Dallas Cowboys are getting ever closer to the opening of training camp out in Oxnard, and once there, the team will have some significant roster and lineup battles to watch. But perhaps none of those battles–certainly on the offensive side of the ball–will have more of a potential impact on how this team plays than the fight for the left tackle spot, where former first-round pick Tyler Guyton is trying to hold his job after a disappointing, injury-plagued 2025.
At this time last year, the hope was that Guyton would take a big step forward after a shaky rookie year, but things didn’t quite pan out. Guyton injured his right knee in last summer’s training camp and never really got his footing under him. He gave up 10 pressures in his first two weeks, according to Pro Football Focus, and though he showed some improvement over that rough stretch, he was not the consistent left-tackle presence that Dallas has mostly had for decades.
In Week 12, Guyton was again injured, suffering a high ankle sprain. His year ended there, and the Cowboys tried seventh-round pick Nate Thomas at the position before moving star guard Tyler Smith out to tackle–a move Brian Schottenheimer said that would remain an option for 2026.
Cowboys Focused on Tyler Guyton at Tackle
Now, the Cowboys have backed off the notion of kicking Smith out to tackle, mostly because he is one of the best guards in the NFL and no one knows how well he would transition to the outside. But there is still the Guyton problem, and moving Smith remains an emergency option. As it stands, the Cowboys will put Thomas vs. Guyton for the left tackle job in camp.
There are questions, though, and the main one is this: Is this really a competition at all? At the team’s DallasCowboys.com website, reporter Tommy Yarrish suggests that Guyton really already has the job.
Not a ‘True Competition’ for Cowboys
There are caveats, but on the question of who’s going to be the left tackle, Yarrish writes: “I’m going with Tyler Guyton. I could be wrong, but I’m not sure how much of a true competition there is for the starting job. … If he is able to stay fully healthy throughout the course of training camp, I find it difficult to imagine a scenario where he is not the starter.”
Indeed, Yarrish points out that Thomas–who is massive, at 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds–has shown flashes of being a capable NFL tackle and that Guyton’s injury history is a red flag. He has missed nine games in two seasons. But Guyton is the guy who got the first-round investment back in 2024, and the team has some investment in him winning the job.
‘I Think It Is Tyler Guyton’
It is worth noting that Yarrish is not alone in his skepticism over the competition at the key Cowboys position. Last month, veteran Cowboys beat writer Jon Machota said something along the same lines during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas.
“I don’t believe there is a real competition at left tackle,” Machota said. “I think it is Tyler Guyton, and if it is not Guyton and that is a disaster, maybe they put Nate Thomas out there. …
“Left tackle, I am not sold on that. There’s nothing I have seen at OTAs or minicamp that make me think that. They’re gonna say that, Nate Thomas will get reps with the 1s and we’ll see that in Oxnard but I really think they’re going to do everything in their power for Guyton to win that job.”
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