It’s officially time to exhale over Cowboys’ No. 1 draft pick
When the Cowboys were once again slotted in the bottom 10 picks of the first round, there was serious concern over the talent they’d be able to acquire. Dallas has had the luxury of not needing to select any particular position the prior two drafts because their star players were all locked into contracts for a few years and the team was doing well.
After another early playoff exit, a free agency period that saw no additions, two OL starters departed and 30 players slated to be free agents next offseason, that luxury was gone. Dallas had to secure OL talent and picking No. 24 meant they were likely going to have to select a player with a second-round grade (as there are normally 15-20 first-round grades in a given class).
And then Dallas traded back from No. 24 in order to acquire an extra third rounder before selected Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton. Guyton was the eighth collegiate offensive tackle taken in the round.
There were concerns, especially considering how unwell 2023’s first-round pick Mazi Smith fared in his rookie campaign.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the regular season. Guyton appears to be yet another Will McClay home run and fans who felt a bit queasy about the transition from future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith, allowed to leave in free agency, can now breath a sigh of relief.
Guyton, who had been dealing with an illness all week leading up to the first exhibition game, performed extremely well when he got his turn against the Los Angeles Rams. Former NFL OT Geoff Schwartz and current analyst recently broke down his film in a 9-minute video.
