OXNARD, Calif. — For the first time in 13 years, the Dallas Cowboys have uncertainty at left tackle. Eight-time Pro Bowler Tyron Smith had been the anchor there since his second NFL season. That responsibility now shifts to rookie Tyler Guyton.
The first-round pick lined up with the second-team offense throughout organized team activities and minicamp. He remained there through the first few practices of training camp. But the ramping up process has led to him getting work with the starters, including several reps against All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons during Tuesday’s first practice in pads. And Guyton was impressive.
“I’m living out my dream right now,” Guyton said. “This is something I used to watch as a kid. I’m enjoying it. I love this whole process. … I belong here.”
Cowboys rookie LT Tyler Guyton: “I think I bring attitude and grit. I love football. I want to win. I’m trying to help this team any way I can.”
Guyton has been working with the second and third team offenses.
“I have one goal, and that’s to leave it all out there. Give it… pic.twitter.com/SE625k6Gkp
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) July 27, 2024
Making the transition from right tackle at Oklahoma to left tackle in the NFL will likely come with growing pains. For one, he’s getting thrown into a fire that includes facing Parsons and four-time Pro Bowler DeMarcus Lawrence on a daily basis. His Week 1 opponent is expected to be Myles Garrett, the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
“I think I need to learn everything,” Guyton said. “I need to work on everything. I’m not a painted picture yet. I still have everything in the world to work on. It’s just about chipping away, one percent (better) every single day.”
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A couple of days after being drafted, Guyton reached out to Duke Manyweather. Guyton trained with the offensive line guru during the pre-draft process at the Sports Academy facility located across the street from the Cowboys’ headquarters in Frisco, Texas. Guyton didn’t want to waste any time before reporting for rookie minicamp. He immediately went back to working with Manyweather, something he continued during the six weeks between the end of minicamp and start of training camp.
“I got stronger,” Guyton said. “I feel like I toned up my body right. And I also refined my technique within my set and my hands.”
Manyweather is the founder of the OL Masterminds summit that recently gathered for its seventh annual event in Frisco. Some of the most notable former and current NFL linemen in attendance included Steve Hutchinson, Alan Faneca, Lane Johnson and Creed Humphrey.
Manyweather has a good relationship with the Cowboys’ front office and coaching staff. He works with many of Dallas’ offensive linemen in the offseason. When Zack Martin held out at the start of training camp last year, he prepared for the start of the season with Manyweather.
Cowboys LG Tyler Smith on rookie LT Tyler Guyton: “I’ve been truly impressed. It’s not very often that you find a human being who measures how he does, 6-7, 330 and has light feet and can just move and just bully dudes. When he really becomes confident and gets the playbook down… pic.twitter.com/rIC71Gm8UD
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) July 30, 2024
“The big thing about his training is that it’s all offensive line specific,” Martin said. “We’re doing lifts and movements strictly in offensive line type positions to get us ready for the season. It’s a good culture that he’s got over there with guys around the league.”
Some might wonder if what Manyweather is teaching could possibly interfere with what the Cowboys’ offensive linemen are being taught by Dallas’ OL coach Mike Solari. Martin explained why that is not an issue.
“I had similar thoughts before I went over there,” Martin said, “‘Is he trying to teach all of these new techniques?’ It’s not really that. It’s more universal positions that offensive linemen are in, not necessarily, ‘This is how you block this play versus that play.’ It’s more about getting your body ready to be in those positions that we’re in all the time.”
Another key member of the Cowboys’ 2024 draft class also has experience working with Manyweather. Third-round pick Cooper Beebe trained with the O-line expert leading up to the draft. Like Guyton, Beebe learned about Manyweather after being invited to the OL Masterminds summit two years ago.
“He has tremendous knowledge,” Beebe said. “Just the way he goes about teaching offensive line. It’s so unique. And so much work for me, just figuring out leverage and hands and where your knees are supposed to be. It has helped my game tremendously.
“I learned so much (at OL Masterminds). I knew this is the dude that I have to work with pre-draft. He actually called me during the draft before I got picked and said the Cowboys had called him three times about me. I’m going to use him as a resource throughout the offseason. It’s just so nice to have him right there.”
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Beebe was a standout guard at Kansas State but most of the teams he talked to during the pre-draft process said they liked his future at center. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy felt that way because of Beebe’s body type and the makeup and background he learned about from Dallas’ scouting staff.
Center became one of the Cowboys’ biggest needs after Tyler Biadasz departed in free agency. Biadasz, a fourth-round pick in 2020, started 53 games in four years, making the Pro Bowl in 2022.
“I have high goals,” Beebe said. “I want to be the starter. If that doesn’t happen, I just want to contribute any way I can. Hopefully at some point if I don’t start, I’m out there giving quality reps at some point during the season. Really just do whatever the team needs me to do.”
Manyweather believes Guyton will have NFL success at left tackle. He has similar feelings about Beebe at center, but also pointed out how strongly he feels about Brock Hoffman, who has been getting all of the first-team center reps.
“I think Tyler Guyton is going to handle that transition very smoothly,” Manyweather said. “When Guyton was drafted on Thursday night, by Saturday morning I had a text message, saying ‘I’m ready to get rolling on Monday.’ That kind of tells you the mindset that Tyler had, knowing he had all the resources right there, in a one-block radius to help him make this transition and to maximize his potential in making that transition.
“I think Guyton is going to be just fine. Make no mistake about it, just like every rookie, there are going to be some ebbs and flows with it, but it’s just being able to condition and callus the mind to a point where the fundamentals reign supreme and he can pull himself out of those tough positions during his rookie season with some of the veteran leadership. And then also just the work he’s put in.”
Rookie Cooper Beebe, right, and All-Pro right guard Zack Martin go through drills during a training camp practice. (Jason Parkhurst / USA Today)
What are Manyweather’s thoughts on Beebe?
“I think he is a phenomenal offensive lineman,” he said. “Had a really stellar career at Kansas State. It’s going to be interesting to see the competition between him and Brock Hoffman. I think those are two guys that are highly competitive, highly gifted individuals. Brock Hoffman has some NFL experience. Cooper Beebe doesn’t have NFL experience and is also learning a new position. Cooper’s mental makeup, his football IQ matched with his athleticism and play strength, I think gives him a chance to really be in position to really compete. I’m excited to see how that plays out in training camp.”
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Two of the most popular talking points early in camp have been the contract situations of quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones has mentioned on multiple occasions how having enough cap space to pay Prescott, Lamb and eventually Parsons at the top of the market at their positions means making tough decisions in other places, like moving on from Smith and Biadasz.
But there is confidence within the organization that after drafting standouts like Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Martin and Tyler Smith that they can hit again along the offensive line.
“We think we drafted two great prospects in Guyton and Beebe,” Jones said. “I think they’ll step in and they’ll do a great job. Our history says that we’ve drafted well and I think they’ll both step up.”
(Top photo of Tyler Guyton: Brandon Sloter / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
