The Dallas Cowboys got their first bit of bad news on Monday, or at least they shared the bad news with the public for the first time. Left guard Tyler Smith, the team's best offensive lineman and three-time Pro Bowler, is going to miss up to the first one-third of the season due to injury. On Tuesday morning, Smith will undergo surgery, which will land him on IR/DTR
, designated to return after four to six weeks on the shelf.That means that Dallas will have to go into their contingency bag extremely early in the season. Moving Smith to IR, as it's already officially Week 1, means that he will miss at least the Giants and Commanders games, the Brazil trip to face the Baltimore Ravens, and the return trip to Texas to face the Houston Texans.
With Week 5 being a Thursday night battle against Tampa Bay with barely any practice, it seems like the mini-bye is the projected window of return so Smith can be back for Week 6 against the Green Bay Packers and potentially Micah Parsons.
But what will the Cowboys do in the meantime? It's a bigger problem than one might think.
Immediate Replacement on OL
TJ Bass, retained this offseason with a second-round RFA tender, will slide into Smith's spot in the starting lineup. That's hardly the only concern, though. Bass, a 2023 UDFA out of Oregon, has started 10 games across his three NFL seasons. He'll certainly be a downgrade to Smith, but he's proven to be a low-end starting caliber player so the club should be okay for the immediate future.
Things will still work differently, of course, along the offensive line without their best player available.
Top in-game backup for LT needed
An issue that might not be obvious to all is that the Cowboys had plenty of options when it came to their game-day roster, because Smith is capable of sliding out to left tackle if necessary. With a healthy Smith, the Cowboys could carry just eight offensive linemen on the game-day roster and none of them had to be able to play left tackle.
With Smith out, an injury to starter Tyler Guyton would require a capable player ready to slide in to his spot. Nate Thomas, who spelled Guyton last year, was traded to the Texans. Fourth-round rookie Drew Shelton isn't ready to play in games that matter.
This means that Wanya Morris, added to the practice squad after spending training camp in Atlanta, is now that guy.
Morris doesn't have to be added to the 53-man roster immediately, the club can elevate him from the practice squad three times before having to sign him outright.
New backup, or backups for all interior OL spots
Moving Bass into the starting lineup means the Cowboys need someone to back him up at left guard. It could be even more dramatic as Bass was seen as the top option if any of the best four linemen were hurt in game.
Nick Leverett will likely be elevated to take on the Bass role of the first man off the bench should something happen along the interior. Dallas may need to use both of their elevations on linemen now.
What makes things even more difficult is there is a thought that recently signed Broderick Jones might not be ready for game action. Ajani Cornelius played most of the summer at guard, but was drafted as a tackle. He may also have to be included on the game-day roster as the contingency.
That would give Dallas the following depth chart for Week 1:
- LT: Guyton (1), Morris (6)
- LG: Bass (2), Leverett (7)
- C: Beebe (3), Leverett
- RG: Booker (4), Leverett, Cornelius (8)
- RT: Steele (5), Cornelius, Jones? (9)
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Injury Fallout: Cowboys OL dominoes topple over with Smith move to IR
