The Dallas Cowboys picked Tyler Smith, an offensive lineman from Tulsa, as the 24th pick in this year’s NFL Draft. Although he is still a few months away from his debut, he has already received support from Ezekiel Elliot.
Elliott described Smith as a “good fit” during a Q&A at the After-School All-Stars North Texas luncheon.
“From everything I’m hearing and seeing it sounds like he’s a good fit for our team,” Elliott said, via Jori Epstein of USA TODAY Sports. “A guy who looks like you can play him at different positions. He looks physical, he looks like he has the type of mentality where he’s going to fit in with the guys already in that room.”
Elliott hopes Smith will help Dak Prescott stay clean and open up more running opportunities.
“Just the ability to keep [Prescott] clean, give him the ability to go out there and go through his reads and throw the ball on time to the playmakers we have outside — that’s big. Establishing the run is big for our team and going to be important for us this year. I think the pick we made in the first round will help us.”
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Smith was a left tackle at Tulsa. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he will play that position in the NFL.
Stephen Jones, Cowboys vice-president, suggested Smith might be competing at left guard later in the year.
“Obviously, we got one of the best in the business for him to learn from in Tyron Smith. Certainly, Tyler Smith will get an opportunity to hit the field at some other spots at well. He’ll compete on that left side: left guard, left tackle,” Jones said, via NFL.com.
Although the Cowboys may flip Smith to the right side, it doesn’t seem to be the plan at the moment.
Smith will be able to show that he is a “good choice” for the Cowboys this summer during training camp.