Rookie Tyler Smith: Already Locked In as Cowboys Starter?

Position flex matters - but not as much as Dallas’ screaming need for a starting left tackle.

FRISCO - Tyler Smith is a left guard.

Amid a great deal of wrong-headed speculation regarding the Dallas Cowboys' first-round draft pick, his first day of work here at The Star in this rookie minicamp featured him at left guard.

Exclusively.

"It felt good, I won't even lie," Smith said of taking the field for him hometown team. “You surprise yourself sometimes. It was a great feeling."

The Cowboys are not, of course, “surprised” as the ability of the 6-5, 320-pound Smith to play inside, even though he is a natural tackle, the spot he manned at Tulsa.

Position flex matters - but not as much as Dallas’ screaming need for a starting left tackle.

Elliott, Prescott, and Smith

Stephen Jones (left), Mike McCarthy (middle) and Jerry Jones

Tyler Smith

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy is among those impressed.

"You can see the twitch is something that jumps out at you," McCarthy said of one aspect of Smith’s athleticism.

The alignment on both Friday and Saturday in these rookie seasons has seen Smith (who signed his rookie deal this week) working primarily at left guard, alongside fellow draft pick Matt Waletzko at left tackle.

It makes for a noticeable sight, as Waletzko is 6-8.

But can they play? 

The rookies will begin meshing with veterans next week. Will there be any reason for Tyler (who did play a little guard in high school) to take some left tackle snaps in relief of Tyron Smith? Will vet Connor McGovern get a crack at the left guard job?

Will Tyler Smith walk into the left guard spot and never let it go - or at least, never move until after Tyron Smith retires?

"That'll be something that we go through in the future, for sure," said Tyler, the Fort Worth native who tells CowboysSI.com that joining his local NFL team is “beyond a dream come true.”

“I’ve always worn blue uniforms on my football teams, so it was meant to be,” he told us, grinning. “I’m sure it’s special for anybody (playing at home), but the Dallas Cowboys? That’s just different.”

And Tyler Smith at guard? That's a bit different for him, too. But he, and Cowboys Nation, probably ought to get used to it.

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