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Brian Schottenheimer says Cowboys have competition at left tackle
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Brian Schottenheimer says Cowboys have competition at left tackle

Originally posted on Inside The Star  |  By Shane Taylor  |  Last updated Jun 6, 2026 9:23 AM ET
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Well, would you look at that, the first day the media was allowed to get inside the voluntary OTAs of the Dallas Cowboys, the biggest news of the day was that we would see a competition for the starting left tackle spot.

I knew that Tyler Guyton would need a strong breakout type year, and the fact that he is already being pressured by Nate Thomas for the starting left tackle spot is either a good thing or a bad thing.

On the surface, it will probably make Guyton stay focused and put in the work that we know he has but struggle to stay constant.

Even when healthy, though, Guyton’s been far too inconsistent to be trusted to be the blind side blocker for Dak Prescott or whoever is playing the position.

He was flagged a whopping 25 times in as many games, 21 of which were accepted by the opposition.

A lot of those penalties derailed promising drives, often forcing the offense to settle for a field goal or knocking it out of Brandon Aubrey’s range altogether.

On the other hand, we will see how the summer goes, but he might have little to no room for error in otherwise he would have had if it was his job 100%.

Nate Thomas

Nate Thomas is a guy that has not been talked about much, but should be now that he has a chance to earn the starting left tackle spot.

Thomas was taken in the same class as Guyton but in the seventh round. He did not play his rookie season, but appeared in all 17 games a year ago and started four of them, but don’t get your hopes up, because he was just as bad as Guyton was. I will say one thing,

I honestly think that Drew Shelton, the fourth round pick from Penn State, should also get a chance to compete with both of these guys for the left tackle spot.

Either way, whoever gets the starting left tackle spot in the end needs to stop with all the penalties.

“There’s competition everywhere and I think Nate’s an incredible player and we learn from each other. We’re both really young and we have a specific set of skills that compliment each other,” Guyton said today.

When you take a look at Pro Football Focus, the Cowboys OL led the league with a total of 133 penalties.

This and scoring seven in the red zone are the two biggest issues regarding a really good offseason from a year ago.

We a long summer to go, and it seems the Cowboys are content with who they have on the roster, and although they did more than they have in the last 20 years during the offseason, they are going to need everyone to play at the same level on both sides of the ball.

This was really the biggest news that came out today. We all knew George Pickens was not going to show up to something that is completely voluntary, but Schotty said that he spoke with him, and they are on the same page, so that is good news at least.

When you look at the depth chart, one of these guys has to be a huge key to the offense and not be a reason why they are on the wrong side of big plays.

Holding calls, false starts, anything, they have to cut down on these issues. You can’t lead the league in offensive line penalties and think that you can compete against the defensive lines in the NFC.

The Rams just added Myles Garrett. He will be licking his chops week 15 if either of these guys has not made a huge leap in their third year.

I am just glad that I am able to start getting these things to write about again.

This article first appeared on Inside The Star and was syndicated with permission.

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