Meeting Cowboys’ No. 24 pick Tyler Smith: Strengths, Weaknesses, Fit
With the 24th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Tulsa offensive lineman Tyler Smith. To say this was a surprise to Cowboys fans would be accurate.
With many other top-tier prospects on the board including Jermaine Johnson, Tyler Linderbaum, Nakobe Dean, and Devin Lloyd, the front office decided to go with the mauler from Fort Worth. After many whispers about the team thinking about trading up, they decided to hang back and select the 21-year-old redshirt sophomore with raw talent.
After the selection, the Joneses met with the press to sort of defend their pick. Jerry Jones previously stated that they had around 16 players with a first-round grade and that he was interested in trading up to secure one of those players. However, they stood pat and selected Smith who they claim was the 16th ranked player on their board.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said team had Tyler Smith ranked higher on draft board than Kenyon Green or Zion Johnson. As evidence, he flashed sheet of paper that apparently had top of team's board . A club that wanted Smith tried to trade for Cowboys' pick. https://t.co/7NtJ0Vk4hv
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) April 29, 2022
In this article, we will dive into who Tyler Smith is as a prospect, which will be especially helpful since most Cowboys fans didn’t know who he was until yesterday. I will go over a general overview of him, his strengths, weaknesses, and how he will fit with America’s Team.
Meeting Cowboys’ 24th overall pick: Tulsa OT Tyler Smith
Coming out of high school, Smith was a three-star prospect from Texas who had just recently made a switch from the defensive line to the offensive line. He committed to Tulsa originally as a guard but was moved to left tackle. He started the last four games of his freshman season for the Golden Hurricanes.
In nine games in 2020, the 24th overall pick started at left tackle and allowed zero sacks. He fared well in the passing game, but it was clear he was a force in the run game. He was selected to the All-American Athletic Conference first-team after the season.
In 2021, Smith was suspended for the first game of the season as a result of a brawl he was a part of in the Armed Forces Bowl against Mississippi State in 2020. He started at left tackle for the remaining 12 games and earned All-Conference second-team honors.
The Tulsa product stands at 6-5, 324 pounds. He measured and tested well at the NFL Combine, coming in with 34″ arms and 10 3/4″ hands. He ran a 5.02-second 40-yard dash which landed him 13th out of all offensive linemen, and recorded a 27.5″ vertical and 105″ broad jump.