Cowboys Reveal 'Upside Plan' for Top Draft Pick Tyler Smith - And Tyron

"Tyler Smith,'' Stephen says, "will compete on that left side: left guard, left tackle."

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys have big plans for Tyler Smith, the DFW native taken with the 24th pick in the recent NFL Draft. And while many have speculated that the big plans are about what we might call "immediate versatility,'' here inside The Star, there is actually some clarity regarding the vision here.

Let's do long-term first ...

"I just think his upside is tremendous," COO Stephen Jones said (via the PFT PM Podcast) of Tyler Smith. "He played at a smaller school there at Tulsa. He only played in 18 games at Tulsa. But we just feel like his skill set really lends to him having an opportunity to be a top, top left tackle at some point."

At some point.

So, for starters, that means All-Pro veteran left tackle Tyron Smith isn't going anywhere. For what it's worth, owner Jerry Jones insists that Tyron, 31, has plenty of "tread left on his tires. But Tyron has struggled with staying healthy in recent years, so Tyler as his heir is sensible.

Up next is this idea (floated mostly by the national media) that because Tyler seems like a "natural tackle'' (which, as he is 6-5, 320, is true), he will end up winning the starting right tackle job.

But that is not the Dallas plan. 

The Cowboys are believers in Terence Steele as the guy to start at right tackle - which, the national media forgets, he actually did for much of last year as the now-departed La'el Collins (to the Bengals) struggled with, ahem, availability.

So where does that leave the rookie?

Stephen Jones made it clear that both "T. Smiths'' could line up on the left side - alongside one another.

"Tyler Smith,'' Stephen said, "will compete on that left side: left guard, left tackle."

And that's it. Tyler prides himself on position flex, and the Cowboys like that as well. But Tyler Smith "competing'' on the left side means he'll get some tackle reps ... and then he'll lose the "competition'' to Tyron ... and then he will be asked to win the job at left guard.

If Tyron is out for any time, Tyler might be a candidate to kick outside. But Dallas' "best five'' means Tyler Smith at left guard. That's the big plan.

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