Dallas Cowboys roundtable: Discussions on training camp
Every week, we gather the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer’s perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the Roundtable. On this week’s instalment, we ask the team three big questions on training camp so far. Answering those burning questions we have Tom Ryle, Jess Haynie, Brian Martin, David Howman and Sean Martin.
Which player has stood out the most so far in training camp and is the front-runner for your Oxnard MVP award?
Tom: I’m starting to feel like the resident curmudgeon, but I want to ask “Training camp? We talking about training camp?” The players are running around in shorts and funny looking helmets. Some may be standing out in practices, but that can be so deceiving. I think DaRon Bland may be doing the most standing out, so he is my “MNP”, or most noticed player. But let’s tap the brakes on creating any awards to hand out here.
Jess: Positions matter in MVP races and Tyler Guyton plays one of the most important roles on the team. The first-round rookie has been getting called out daily for good reasons, most incredibly for how he’s handling Micah Parsons’ pass rush. For a guy who was supposedly raw and needing to make a transition to playing left tackle, Guyton has hit the ground sprinting and may be much closer to replacing Tyron Smith than we ever could’ve dreamed this early.
Brian: I have to go with Tyler Guyton here as the front runner for the MVP award so far in training camp for the Dallas Cowboys. He’s been holding his own for the most part against arguably the best pass rusher in the league in Micah Parsons and that speaks volumes to his talent. Hopefully he can continue to perform at such a high level for the remainder of training camp/preseason and carry it over into the 2024 either season.
David: I’m going to cheat here and pick a coach instead of a player, but my answer is Mike Zimmer. In team drills so far, we’ve seen tons of disguises and creativity from the defense, as well as a bigger focus on moving Micah Parsons around and building off of that. On top of the scheme things we’ve seen, which is exciting, players have been raving about how Zimmer teaches discipline and has an infectious love of the game. I was bullish on the Zimmer hire from the start, but it seems like we’re seeing the best possible outcome so far in camp.
Sean: Picking any player that’s only been able to show their full potential in padded practices, which the Cowboys are just beginning, can be deceiving – yet the answer here still has to be Tyler Guyton. The Cowboys first round pick deserves immense credit for putting himself in position to be a starter in his first season, just as the team needs, and looking so good already in his transition from right tackle to left. Even through all of the negativity this offseason, nobody can question the Cowboys ability to find top-end offensive linemen, and Guyton already looks well on his way to being the latest.
Which player has been the biggest surprise so far at Oxnard?
Tom: Get off my lawn with these questions. OK that was partly just so I could keep the theme of my answers going. I would lean a bit to Tyron Billy-Johnson for becoming the undrafted WR darling of camp so far, just because he was not at all on my radar (which admittedly is pretty low powered nowadays.)
Jess: Like Tom, I’m about to have a theme going as well. Few expected Tyler Guyton to be this good this quickly. Even if you weren’t calling him a reach when Dallas drafted him 29th overall (which if you were, you’re silly), you generally don’t see a borderline Day 2 pick come in at left tackle and be one of the stars of camp. For a bad kind of surprise, the lack of enthusiasm around QB Trey Lance’s performance has been quite the reversal from the praise being heaped on him during the spring. Hopefully, he can change the tune again in preseason games.
Brian: Again, Tyler Guyton is the answer for me. I was skeptical he would be able to step in immediately and potentially replace Tyron Smith as the Dallas Cowboys new blindside blocker, but so for he’s exceeded my expectations. I’m sure we’ll see plenty of growing pains from him throughout his rookie season, but the fact he’s been holding his own against Micah Parsons so far in practice gives me hope he’ll win more matchups than he loses.
David: Caelen Carson for me. I loved the Wake Forest cornerback in the draft, but I also recognized that he lasted into the fifth round for a reason. To see him getting first-team reps (before Trevon Diggs returned to practice, that is) ahead of guys like Nahshon Wright and Eric Scott Jr. is one thing. But to show out the way he has, with multiple interceptions, is a welcome surprise. Hopefully he can continue this upward momentum.
Sean: I’d consider it only a mild surprise, or perhaps in the medium salsa range, but Brock Hoffman being this hard to displace as the starting center is one for me. The early expectations on third-round pick Cooper Beebe to take Hoffman’s spot right away were always a bit unfair, but this is still a rookie with a ton of upside just waiting to show it thanks to the way Hoffman has earned the trust of these coaches with solid rep after rep.
Which rookie needs to have the best camp and is most pivotal to the team’s success this year?
Tom: A couple of days ago, it would have been down to Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebee, but now I’m looking at Marshawn Kneeland since Sam Williams is lost for the season. They are definitely my top 3, but for Guyton and Beebee I think they had pretty clear fallback options, at least for the early part of the season. The Williams loss is another unexpected injury that is going to force them to make some rapid recalculations, and the staff is going to be trying to accelerate Kneeland’s acclimation to the pros.
Jess: I could easily answer Guyton again given the important of left tackle, and if Chuma Edoga was truly the next man up then he’d be the pick. But the contingency plan to have Tyler Smith slide left helps you feel better; Edoga or T.J. Bass would be fine at guard if needed. So with that, you have to go with Marshawn Kneeland in the wake of the Sam Williams’ injury. Dorance Armstrong took 7.5 sacks with him to Washington and Dante Fowler was an efficient rotation piece as well. Now to lose Williams as well, Dallas has to get a lot out of their second-round rookie immediately.
Brian: The easy answer here would be Marshawn Kneeland after seeing Sam Williams’ season end abruptly with a knee injury, but I’m going to go with Caelon Carson. The Cowboys have very little depth at cornerback right now and we’ve seen in recent years just how important those backup players are. In back-to-back years we’ve seen both Trevon Diggs and Jourdan Lewis miss the majority of the past two seasons, and if that were to happen this year, there is sadly not a viable option to replace them currently on the roster. Carson’s inside/out versatility could make him the perfect candidate.
David: Unlike my esteemed counterparts, I haven’t talked about Tyler Guyton yet, so here goes. The left tackle is a vitally important position, and the Cowboys needed to nail it with their draft pick after letting Tyron Smith walk in free agency and doing diddly squat to reinforce the position before the draft. So far in camp, Guyton has looked every bit the part, displaying tremendous strength and movement for such a big guy while also looking pretty comfortable playing on the left side instead of the right, where he spent the majority of his time at Oklahoma. If Guyton is a hit, it’ll be a massive boon for this offense. If he struggles, though… well, we all remember a certain game that taught us what a liability at left tackle can do to an offense. It’s crucial that Guyton continues to look this good going forward.
Sean: Somehow, I’m going to make the case for a player not named Tyler Guyton or Marshawn Kneeland, but instead pick the very last of Dallas’ 2024 selections with Justin Rogers. Where does that land me on the salsa scale, hot and spicy? Mazi Smith’s improvements have been the most notable thing to talk about daily at the defensive tackle spot, but the Cowboys still need a rotation here and Rogers has reportedly looked like their best nose tackle option on a few occasions. Where Smith’s playing time will come not only because of his draft status and development, but because the Cowboys still feel he has some pass rush upside, Rogers is a no-flash, no nonsense, get the job done plugging the interior one-technique. If he can avoid hitting the rookie wall and simply stay on task of doing his job at a high level, Rogers could be an unsung hero in the first year of Mike Zimmer’s defense.