FRISCO, Texas – Before the Cowboys took the field for their third OTAs practice of 2026, head coach Brian Schottenheimer announced that Tyler Guyton and Nate Thomas are in a competition for Dallas' starting left tackle position.
Guyton, Dallas' first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, has started at left tackle in 21 games for the Cowboys through his first two NFL seasons. Thomas, who the Cowboys picked 204 selections later than Guyton in the 2024 draft, started four games at left tackle in 2025. For the more experienced Guyton, being available is the biggest question he'll have to answer as injuries have held him out of games and important time in practice.
"Tyler's biggest thing is the consistency has not been there," Schottenheimer said. "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 challenge that he's been working extremely, extremely hard on."
Schottenheimer added that the Cowboys are "going to make [Guyton] earn it" and that the competition is "going to get the best out of Tyler Guyton and Nate Thomas." In Guyton's eyes, he's approaching the competition one day at a time.
"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."
In the last year, Guyton suffered a knee injury in training camp that kept him out four-to-six weeks, and finished the 2025 season on injured reserve while dealing with a high ankle sprain. Reflecting back on his first two seasons, Guyton sees everything he's gone through as a learning experience.
"I feel like coming into the league, I had a lot to learn. And I feel like I've learned something," Guyton said. "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."
Guyton was pushing to return at the end of last season, but ultimately said wasn't healthy enough to come back on the field. This offseason though, he is healthy, and it's allowed him to be aggressive in his approach to prepare for an important third season.
"It's been good," Guyton said of his work going into the offseason. "It's my second time around going through an offseason, so I feel like I was able to attack the things that I needed to be better. I had a good offseason."
What's the biggest thing that Guyton has been looking to improve going into year three?
"My strength," Guyton said. "I feel like that's one of the biggest models of offensive linemen, and something I need to work on."
To help with strength, among other things, former Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith has been a frequent visitor to the Star in Frisco, and was even in the building on Thursday. Guyton sees Smith's information as invaluable for himself and the position room.
"He's been a big help for us as offensive linemen," Guyton said of Smith. "His presence in our room and on the field with us is incredible. There's not really much that you can't learn from a guy like Tyron Smith. He knows everything about football, especially the left tackle position."
Having played the left tackle position himself at a high level, Smith has passed down knowledge to Guyton, and posture paired with strength is something Guyton is looking to copy from Smith's game.
"His posture is something that I really am trying to take from him," Guyton said. "He tells me that my posture is going to be where my money is at. Posture on contact is everything. If you don't have good posture, you're not going to win the play."
The next Cowboys' OTAs practice will be on June 8, with two practices after that on June 9 and 11 before mandatory minicamp from June 16-18.
