It was a surprise to see Tyler Smith move out to left tackle against the Chargers, and Brian Schottenheimer stated that Tyler will remain there for the rest of the season.
The Dallas Cowboys slumped to a 34-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at AT&T Stadium, continuing their horror-show run.
But that might not be the big headline coming out of the game. Nor, we could argue, is performance of coordinator Matt Eberflus' bottom-of-the-barrel defense.
No, in terms of the future, the headliner issue might be Pro Bowl left guard Tyler Smith shifting outside to left tackle. ...
Maybe permanently.
Some might forget that Tyler was drafted to replace Tyron Smith in 2022, but shifted inside to guard and has been a mainstay as part of Dak Prescott's protection.
Now, he will take charge of Dak's blindside for the rest of the season, according to head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
"[Tyler] Guyton's working his way back, probably won't make it this week, is what we think,” Schottenheimer said. “So, move Tyler Smith out there. He certainly can play out there. When we made the decision, the decision was made that we're going to do it for the year. So he'll be the left tackle."
Hmm. OK.
There is also a thought that this could be permanent.
Tyler to left tackle, and Guyton to right tackle, where he played in college due to having a left-handed quarterback.
That means that Terence Steele, whose future is up in the air due to an out in his contract, and a move would only cost a little over $9 million against the cap per Spotrac.com.
But what did Schottenheimer think of Tyler at left tackle against the Chargers?
"I haven't seen the film, but the fact that we gave up the one sack late and two minutes in the first half, I thought we pass-protected a really good front," he added. "I think three of the four losses they've had, they've only gotten one sack. So we certainly, I thought, protected Dak pretty well, and he looked very comfortable.”
So the Cowboys will now look ahead to Christmas Day against the Washington Commanders, and while they say there won't be any "Organic Tanking" from Dallas?
There will be experimentation. Which is sort of a similar thing.