After weeks of speculation and dozens of mock draft predictions, Day One of the 2022 NFL Draft has passed. Dallas Cowboys leadership has insisted that the team would address the needs on the offensive line early in the draft.
With the 24th overall selection in the first round, the Cowboys selected Tulsa tackle, Tyler Smith. The 6’5″ monster lineman is a Fort Worth native who brings size and athleticism, albeit with notable downsides.
Smith is anticipated to fill the void created when guard Conner Williams left for the Dolphins in free agency.
Williams had a good 2021 season but was flagged for more penalties than any other player in the NFL. Interestingly, one of the biggest knocks against Smith is that he was flagged for 16 penalties in his last season at Tulsa.
The high rate of penalties seems to be one of the only downsides to drafting Smith, and if offensive line coach Joe Philbin can make some improvements with Smith’s use of his hands and footwork, he may be a Day One starter at right guard. If the penalties are cleaned up, Smith’s size and play style will allow the Cowboys’ offense to make big plays in 2022.
Tape on Smith shows a brutal blocking style in which he pursues rushers with a vengeance. Good Morning Football draft evaluator Daniel Jeremiah described Smith as “permanently pissed off,” an assessment that Smith told the show hosts was accurate “from the outside looking in.”
Smith said that he always plays with a chip on his shoulder, a style that began in high school when Smith didn’t get the recruiting attention he thought he should.
Fighting through adversity is something that Smith already has plenty of experience with. As a child, he suffered from a condition known as Blount’s Disease, which causes the bones in the knees to grow abnormally. Doctors had to break his legs to fix the condition, and he was forced to wear cages to reset the bones.
One significant upside for the Cowboys in selecting the 324-pound player is his age. Smith just turned 21 in April.
Scouts claim that he needs a lot of work in terms of technique, describing him as “raw,” but he also does not have set-in-stone habits that some more experienced draft prospects may carry. He will join an o-line that features Tyron Smith at tackle and Zack Martin on the opposite side of center.
Smith joins the Cowboys organization after playing only 25 games in college due to COVID-19 and a suspension in the 2021 season for his role in a brawl during the previous year.
With a play style that is widely agreed on to be physical and violent, if Smith can avoid the holding penalties that doomed his predecessor, the chance that he can help the Cowboys regain the NFL’s best offensive line exists.
The Dallas Cowboys will have two more opportunities Friday night in Rounds Two & Three of the NFL draft. The Cowboys will pick 56th and 88th overall on the draft’s second day.
