Thus far in the Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 season, their plan to enter the campaign with a pair of rookie starters on the offensive line has yielded mixed results.
That doesn’t differentiate it from a few other aspects of the Cowboys’ game these days.
But if Dallas can take anything from the 30-24 loss to San Francisco in Week 8, it’s the small steps of improvement taken by rookie first-round selection Tyler Guyton.
Guyton returned to action for the first time in three weeks against the 49ers and played one of his best games thus far against San Francisco. His pass-blocking grade of 72.0, given by Pro Football Focus, is the highest of his career.
“It’s a constant improvement everywhere,” Guyton said when asked how his game has improved through the first nine weeks of his NFL career. “As a whole, I try to get better at everything. I still have everything in the world to work on. I’m not polished up, but I’m still working.”
Guyton exited the Cowboys’ Week 5 game against the Steelers with a knee injury, then missed the game against the Lions despite practicing that week and being expected to start. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy had explained that Guyton simply “wasn’t ready to go” against the Lions.
Guyton recovered during the bye week, however, and in 44 pass blocks against the 49ers allowed just four quarterback pressures. He didn’t allow a sack. His PFF pass-blocking grade on the year is 53.7, 84th out of 122 tackles in the NFL.
Small steps.
Guyton was flagged for holding on Sunday, a penalty that was declined only because tight end Jake Ferguson also was called for holding on that play. In total Guyton has been flagged nine times — six for holding, twice for false starts and once for an illegal block above the waist. Only three players in the league have been flagged more.
Guyton, who stands at 6-7, 327 pounds and was a right tackle during his time in college at Oklahoma, says the fix for his penalties involves relying on his technique and, of course, critical self-reflection.
“You gotta be hard on yourself,” Guyton said. “If you wanna be good, you have to be your own biggest critic. You gotta want it more than anybody else wants it for yourself.”
Another fix? Dallas had some offensive communication errors in San Francisco, with McCarthy noting postgame that the team had multiple communication miscues during the opening drive alone. QB Dak Prescott noted on Thursday that “overcommunication” is the theme of the week.
Guyton is expected to be back as the Cowboys starting left tackle on Sunday when they try to right the ship against the Falcons.
“We just gotta get on the same page,” Guyton said. “We’re a new group playing with each other; we just gotta jell together. And we will.”
Twitter: @coylio33
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