FRISCO, Texas — Make no mistake about it, the Dallas Cowboys do indeed have an open competition for the right to be named starting left tackle to begin the 2026 season. The lead horses in that battle are former first-round pick Tyler Guyton and Nate Thomas, a former late-round pick that made waves last season during Guyton's struggles with injury.
Brian Schottenheimer, the team's head coach and offensive playcaller, has seen enough to kick the door open for the competition to begin, in the hopes of identifying a franchise left tackle that will also, as a byproduct, all but guarantee All-Pro left guard Tyler Smith will never have to move out of his base position again.
Thomas, speaking from OTAs just ahead of mandatory minicamp, spoke candidly about the news and what he's been doing, and will do, to try and win the job of protecting the blindside of All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott.
"For me, it really comes down to technique and the habits that you build," Thomas said. "Last year, it was my first year playing — coming off of injury from the year before. This has really been my first real offseason to train and get better, so that's what I did."
His self-evaluation included taking the faults he found on film to anyone he felt could help him improve, both inside and outside of the building.
"I took what I did last year — the good, the bad, the things I need to work on — and went to Duke [Manyweather], the dude I train with, and I said, 'Hey, help me fix some of these things that I'm having trouble with," he said. "That's what I did."
And Manyweather (of OL Masterminds in Frisco) isn't the only mentor and coach in Thomas' process.
"I focused on the things I was having trouble with, and it's awesome that I get to come here and work with the guys, and get to see like, 'OK, what are some of the things that you're doing on defense that's making you move a certain way. What am I doing on offense that's making you do certain things?'" said Thomas. "Learning certain nuggets like that, not just from Duke, but also [offensive coordinator] Klayton Adams and [offensive line coach] Conor Riley. We've got Tyron Smith now.
"Even [pass rush consultant Brandon "BT" Johnson], I've talked to him a couple times to just try to get a feel for what it is I can do better as far as playing the left tackle position."
With training camp speeding toward them, Thomas and Guyton now fully understand the assignment at-hand. The latter also spoke about the left tackle competition in Dallas heading into his third season, embracing it in much the same way as Thomas.
To put it plainly, both sound ready to rumble, respectfully.
"Same equation, come to work every day, try to get better, prepare myself for the next day…" Guyton said. "There's competition everywhere on the team. It's a football team and everybody wants to play. Friendly competition isn't bad. It brings the best out of people."
