Dallas Cowboys' odd handling of top rookie gets even weirder with Week 16 win over Bucs
The Dallas Cowboys started Chuma Edoga at left tackle in Week 16 for the third consecutive week, continuing a strange handling of first-round rookie Tyler Guyton that sticked out during the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Guyton rotated with Edoga throughout the game, taking his first snaps in the Cowboys' third drive. Out of six […]
The Dallas Cowboys started Chuma Edoga at left tackle in Week 16 for the third consecutive week, continuing a strange handling of first-round rookie Tyler Guyton that sticked out during the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Guyton rotated with Edoga throughout the game, taking his first snaps in the Cowboys' third drive. Out of six first-half drives, Guyton played in one.
Earlier in the season, Guyton was even engaged in a competition with second-year tackle Asim Richards, who at times also rotated with Guyton in-game, something very uncommon for offensive linemen at the NFL level.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy even openly described the situation at tackle as a "competition" last month.
Up until Week 16, the decision to not start the first-rounder could've been shrugged off as a decision to field the best team out there to fight for a chance to win, prioritizing fielding the "best" players over those who provide long-term upside, like Guyton.
But by the time Sunday Night Football kicked off, the Cowboys were already mathematically eliminated. So when the starters were announced and Edoga was in over Guyton, things reached a new level of odd.
The decision opens the door for a series of questions, which head coach Mike McCarthy is likely to address at some point.
Do the Cowboys think Guyton is unplayable to the point of not even being worth the reps for the sake of development? What is more, he hasn't been that bad based on what we've seen from him on film. So is it something else? Something attitude related? Why exactly is he not starting? To be clear, I'm just speculating here but the handling of Guyton has been so weird that even that seems like a possibility at this point.
It can't be that they think Guyton wasn't fully healthy, which they claimed in Week 6 when he was active yet didn't play against the Lions, because leading up to Week 16, the rookie wasn't on the injury report.
The Cowboys are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and though McCarthy and staff are coaching for job security, it's hard to argue in favor of not giving Guyton every possible rep. He needs the experience for the long run.
