Tyron Smith opens minicamp at left tackle

FRISCO, Texas — There’s a lot of speculation about what the Dallas Cowboys will or won’t do with their offensive line in 2023. With Terence Steele still recovering from a torn ACL, the team has a great opportunity to try out different rotations and that raised questions about where to go. will field Tyron Smith during the season.

Well, to open mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, Tyron Smith was exactly where head coach Mike McCarthy said he would be when he spoke to the media before the first practice of minicamp.

Tyron Smith was at left tackle and Tyler Smith was next to him at left guard.

That opens the door to a possible scenario in which the Cowboys field what many see as their true top-five rotation, one that features Tyron Smith and Tyler Smith to the left of Tyler Biadasz with Steele operating to the right of the All-Star. Pro Zack Martin.

But since Steele isn’t cleared to take replays yet, it was former fifth-round pick Matt Waletzko who got the job as starting right tackle.

That’s an interesting stat in itself, because it shows that, for now at least, Waletzko arguably has the upper hand in the battle for the tackle swing position. There’s a lot of potential for Waletzko in that role, now that he’s back from a shoulder injury suffered early in his rookie training camp in 2022 that effectively derailed his entire season.

Nothing is guaranteed yet, as the Cowboys have until September before trying to lock someone into a particular role. And with that being the case, you can bet that you’ll still be seeing rotation experiments before September.

But the fact that McCarthy opted to start minicamp with the Smith Bros. lined up shoulder-to-shoulder says a lot about what could happen in 2023.