Schottenheimer won’t hand Guyton anything year in now or never year in Dallas

Brian Schottenheimer isn’t handing anything to Tyler Guyton.

The Dallas Cowboys’ coach made that pretty clear when he opened up a competition at left tackle this offseason, putting Guyton — the franchise’s first-round pick two years ago — up against Nate Thomas, a seventh-rounder from that same 2024 draft class.

According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, Schottenheimer summed it up simply: “We’re going to make Tyler earn it.”

That’s not nothing. That’s a coach telling a former top pick his seat isn’t as comfortable as it used to be.

Why left tackle matters more than any other spot

Before getting into Guyton’s situation, it helps to understand what’s at stake at his position. Left tackle isn’t just another lineman.

He’s the guy protecting the quarterback’s blind side, the side a right-handed passer can’t see when he drops back. That’s where opposing defenses send their best pass rusher, hoping to make a clean hit before the quarterback even knows what’s coming.

A great left tackle neutralizes that threat. A shaky one can turn a good pass rusher into a star and make a confident quarterback suddenly jumpy.

For a Cowboys team built to move the ball — and they moved it plenty last year, finishing second in the NFL in yards per game at 391.9 — what happens at that position ripples through the entire offense.

Dallas knows this better than most.

Tyron Smith anchored that blindside for years and is almost certainly heading to Canton. Travis Frederick and Zack Martin joined him as first-round picks in back-to-back drafts, and all three reached the Pro Bowl by their second year.

Tyler Smith continued the run after the Cowboys drafted him in the first round in 2022, earning a Pro Bowl nod in year two and eventually signing the richest interior offensive line deal in team history.

That’s the standard Guyton inherited when Dallas selected him 29th overall in 2024. He hasn’t matched it yet.

Two years, too many interruptions

Part of the problem has been staying healthy. Guyton has appeared in 25 of 34 possible games through his first two seasons, making 21 starts. His rookie year came with knee and shoulder setbacks.

Last summer, the Cowboys held their breath when he went down in training camp. Early fears pointed to an ACL tear, but the actual diagnosis of a broken bone, while still serious, kept him out roughly a month instead of the entire season.

He returned to start the opener but took time to round into form

A five-game stretch of solid play late in the year raised some optimism before a high ankle sprain wiped out the final six games.

A concussion cost him another game earlier in the season.

Still, the injury history isn’t the main reason Archer identifies Guyton as the Cowboys’ biggest question mark heading into 2026. The real issue is what happens when he’s actually on the field.

“Tyler’s biggest thing is the consistency has not been there,” Schottenheimer told Archer. “Very talented. Maybe one of the most athletic big men I’ve ever been around with his ability to kick slide, punch, move, run. But there’s got to be more consistency and that’s been the change that he’s been working extremely hard on.”

Putting in the work when nobody’s watching

Here’s the part that gives Cowboys fans some reason to feel good about Guyton’s direction.

A couple of weeks into the offseason program, Schottenheimer made a weekend trip to The Star to take care of something. He found two players already there in Guyton and second-year running back Phil Mafah.

That kind of voluntary Saturday work doesn’t show up in a stat line, but it tells a coaching staff something. Schottenheimer clearly noticed.

Guyton’s also been working with a resource that very few offensive linemen in NFL history have had access to.

Tyron Smith, who wrapped up his playing career and is considered a near-certain Hall of Famer, has been making regular visits to The Star this offseason.

He’s passing along lessons to the entire offensive line group, but Guyton is absorbing as much as he can.

“The gold jacket shows up when he wants, bro,” Guyton said of Smith, per Archer’s ESPN report.

One concept Smith keeps coming back to is posture — specifically how a lineman carries himself through contact. Guyton said it’s become a central focus of his offseason work.

“There’s not really much that you can’t learn from a guy like Tyron Smith,” Guyton said. “His posture is something I really try and take from him because he tells me that my posture is going to be where my money’s at. Your posture on contact is everything. If you don’t have good posture, you’re not going to win a rep.”

Competition and a clock that’s ticking

Guyton isn’t just competing with Thomas. He’s also competing with a deadline.

The Cowboys will face a decision on his fifth-year contract option after this season, and that call is much less obvious than it was for the linemen who came before him.

With Tyron Smith, Frederick, Martin and Tyler Smith, the answer to that question was essentially a formality by year three.

Guyton’s first two seasons haven’t delivered that kind of clarity. He knows it.

“Coming into the league, I had a lot to learn, and I feel like I’ve learned something,” he told Archer. “I’ve gotten stronger. I’ve gotten better at football, learning more techniques and things like that. It’s just a learning process and I’m going to continue to try to advance for this next season.”

The Cowboys are taking him at his word … for now.

The rest of the roster is in place. Dak Prescott is healthy, Tyler Smith and Booker form one of the better guard tandems in football, and the skill position group is arguably the deepest it’s been in years.

If Guyton delivers on his end, Dallas could have an offense that’s genuinely difficult to stop.

If he doesn’t, the Cowboys face some uncomfortable shuffling and a decision at left tackle that nobody in Frisco is eager to make.