As a first-round draft pick in 2014, Zack Martin came to Dallas as a collegiate left tackle. But he was named the Cowboys’ starting right guard on the first day of his rookie OTAs. That positional conversion worked out well; Martin is now a five-time All-Pro, landed on the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team, and has seven Pro Bowl nods on his résumé.
Tyler Smith was also a first-round selection, just two months ago. A left tackle at Tulsa, he’s likely to start the upcoming season at left guard. But he’s keeping those outside skills sharp, too.
The Cowboys are hoping that by having Smith learn two jobs on one side of the ball, the promising rookie can double his value to the team and be a force on Dak Prescott’s blind side for years to come.
“It pays off that he’s playing on one side,” Martin said of the youngster’s early workload at both left guard and left tackle. “If you were playing left guard and then swinging over to right tackle, in my mind, that would be much harder than going from left tackle to left guard.
“Obviously, the protection stuff in space is different, but at least your footwork- in the run game, especially- is going to be the exact same at left tackle and left guard. It’ll be good for him to do both.”
Martin knows what he’s talking about. After making the initial jump from the left side once he got to the pros, he’s been the most dominant right guard in the sport. But in 2020, his seventh season, Martin was suddenly pressed into duty at right tackle for a couple games due to linemates’ injuries.
It may seem like a minor shift.
It is not.
Especially for a rookie who is also adjusting to the breakneck speed of NFL play and the exponentially increased athleticism of the opponents week in and week out.
“As a rookie, your head can swim a little bit because of different things that happen at guard, and then you kick out to tackle and it’s, ‘Oh, there’s a lot of space out there,’ but he’s done a nice job,” Martin also said of Smith, per ESPN. “The number one thing is he works hard and he’s eager to learn. We can work with that all day.”
The Cowboys may have to work with it sooner rather than later, if recent history is any indicator.
“The last couple years, we’ve had multiple games where guys have been shuffled around,” Martin reminded. “It just shows the value and the importance of being to play multiple positions.”
Which is how the team’s newest lineman, who just turned 21 in April,…
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