The Cowboys have had Tyron Smith as their starting left tackle for many years and they took a player with a similar name with the 24th pick of the draft on Thursday night.
Tyler Smith played the same position as his new teammate while he was at Tulsa and Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said that the team believes he “can be our left tackle for a long time at some point in time.” That point in time is unlikely to be now and Smith is expected to work at both tackle and left guard as he begins his NFL career.
Kicking inside as a rookie would be just fine with Smith because of who he’ll be working with in Dallas.
“I’ll fit in wherever they put me,” Smith said, via the team’s website. “Being able to work with Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, Terence Steele and guys like that, it’s a dream come true. Those are true vets. It doesn’t get any better than that, and to be able to learn from them — first team All-Pro for numerous years — it’s a blessing to get to work with those guys.”
Smith just turned 21, so the Cowboys see plenty of room for him to grow as he acclimates himself to both life in the NFL and a new position on the field.