It’s never a good sign when a team’s top draft pick has been benched for a replacement-level journeyman who’s just barely getting by, but that appears to be exactly what’s happening with Tyler Guyton and the Cowboys this season.

Dallas’ top pick from the 2024 draft class has had a tough rookie year. Plugged into the starting spot out of need more than readiness, Guyton was thrown to wolves, and not so surprisingly, struggled immensely. Technique has been sloppy, responsibilities have been forgotten, and penalties have been aplenty. It’s no wonder the Cowboys didn’t push their struggling left tackle back into the lineup after he returned from injury earlier this month.

Working in place of Guyton has been the veteran Chuma Edoga. Edoga consistently rates near the bottom of the league in LT performance, yet he’s been given the starting job over Guyton in recent weeks. It’s an odd decision since Edoga doesn’t appear to factor into Dallas’ long-term plans.

Pro Football Focus regards them as similarly poor players with Guyton grading out 72nd of 78 among offensive tackles and Edoga only holding a 0.2-point advantage in grade.

Penalties may ultimately be the reason the Cowboys have opted for the veteran because Guyton has struggled in that area specifically. Even though Guyton has only started 10 games, he still ranks No. 2 in penalties among offensive lineman. Only Laremy Tunsil, a player with six more starts than the Cowboys rookie, exceeds Guyton in penalties, and it’s only by one.

Jerry Jones brought up penalties when discussing Guyton’s struggles this year. He remained optimistic but also somewhat fed up.

“You cannot make numerous mistakes relative to penalties, you can’t do that,” Jones said of Guyton. “But he’s learning to be the potential player that we all see many times out there during the course of the game. The main thing is that he has the right attitude and he’s smart.”

Based on the Cowboys’ words and actions, they seem prepared to continue to hold Guyton back the rest of this season. The rookie only played seven snaps on Sunday and quite frankly, they weren’t very good snaps. With the playoffs out of reach it’s difficult to justify not giving the ultra-inexperienced rookie more snaps, but that’s where the Cowboys appear to have settled.

“I’m not concerned about his future at all,” Jones said of Guyton. “In fact, I’m encouraged about his future.”

Jones’ statements are more likely an example of hyperbole than true faith, but given the investment, Guyton still clearly factors into the Cowboys future in 2025. Everyone may have to wait until next year to find out in what capacity exactly that will be.

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