OXNARD, Calif. -- As the Dallas Cowboys ' first-round pick, Tyler Guyton knew he had to set a tone early in training camp. Not necessarily on the field, either. Because of his draft status, he was the first rookie to sing in front of his teammates. One requirement: "It had to be something groovy," Guyton said.
His go-to song was Rick James' "Mary Jane," and it had the entire room -- players, coaches, support staff -- roaring in approval.
"Yeah, I did my thing on that one," Guyton said. "I had to."
The favorable impression continued a few days later. During a game of Jeopardy! that special teams coordinator John Fassel has done over the past five years in team meetings, Guyton was picked to spell hippopotamus.
"I felt like it was very disrespectful, so I spelled it fast," Guyton joked. "Who doesn't know how to spell hippopotamus?"
The man who needs Guyton most, quarterback Dak Prescott , liked it more than most.
"The dude jumped up there and spelled it as fast without any hesitation as I've ever seen," Prescott said of the Cowboys' fledgling left tackle and No. 29 overall draft pick. "Still mind blown to be honest with you. So that's the intelligence and confidence for sure. And obviously it's showing on the field too."
That's what matters most since the Cowboys are looking to replace eight-time Pro Bowler Tyron Smith . Injuries limited Smith's availability in recent years, but he remained one of the league's best left tackles.
Smith started the Cowboys' success in selecting offensive linemen in the first round. He was the ninth pick in 2011. Travis Frederick was the 31st pick in 2013. Zack Martin was the 16th pick in 2014. Tyler Smith was the 24th pick in 2022.
They combined for 23 Pro Bowl selections.
"I don't know where I'm headed," Guyton said. "I'm just putting my head down and working every single day to become a better me."
Just 22, Guyton has shown a seriousness in approach. Two days after he was drafted, he moved to Frisco, Texas, to begin training. When the offseason program ended for rookies in mid-June, he remained in town to work with Duke Manyweather and OL Masterminds.
"Every day. I didn't take a trip. I didn't go on vacation," Guyton said. "I stayed and worked with Duke every single day."
There were two days Guyton missed because of blown tires thanks to the north Texas roads, Manyweather said. When Guyton originally reached out to Manyweather, the coach reached out to Oklahoma offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.
"Bill has coached a lot of good ones and he will shoot me straight," Manyweather said. "He had no qualms when it got to Tyler. When Tyler contacted me the Saturday after the draft, he said he was ready to work. With everything, you feel it out with these guys who just got paid a whole lot, just been through a strenuous [draft] process -- and he showed up and has been deliberate about his development, even after the minicamp. I've been very impressed."
Five or six days a week, Guyton worked out with Manyweather, refining his technique and gaining strength. Manyweather started at the beginning with "how you get your feet in the ground."
"When you teach new things, the keys are retention and replication," Manyweather said. "Tyler's able to replicate things. He's taken his physical gifts and turned them into tools. Anytime we do something, I explain why we do it, how it would work and how it would apply. Then he has some follow-ups and that's when you know they're starting to get it.
"That's important, but again, this guy is a rookie. He's going to have some ups and downs and it's not going to be all f---ing rabbits and butterflies every day of the week."
Guyton started one full season at Oklahoma, but at right tackle, protecting the blind side of left-handed quarterback Dillon Gabriel . Guyton said the transition has been smooth to the left side but acknowledged there is an adjustment to the speed of the game he needs to make.
"I've got to earn my keep again and work my way up the system and start to understand this level of football," Guyton said.
He has a good pass rusher to learn from.
An illness knocked Guyton out of a handful of practices recently, but he is getting back to speed. He performed well in his one-on-one work with All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons before getting sick. The coaches believe the work against Parsons will do wonders for Guyton just as the reps Parsons got against Smith helped him early in his career.
"I can't teach him too much -- I can't have Tyler dominating me," Parsons said. "But against fellow pass rushers around the league, I'll be more than welcomed to give him tips and help him make his own way. ... It'll be one of those things where we feed off each other and make each other better every day."
The Cowboys are making Guyton earn it. In the spring, he worked with the backups in the organized team activities and minicamp. He opened training camp with the backups, too, but before an illness knocked him out of two padded practices, he was starting to get first-team reps.
"We believe these guys need to compete for everything," offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said.
That's fine with Guyton.
"Learning-wise, I think I need to learn everything," Guyton said. "I need to work on everything. I'm not a painted picture yet. I still have everything in the world to work on. But it's just about chipping away 1 percent every single day."
Guyton grew up a Cowboys fan in a family of Cowboys fans. He attended games at AT&T Stadium. He has a jersey or two of current teammates. He watched Smith intently, but Prescott does not want Guyton to think he needs to be Smith, who is now with the New York Jets .
"He's got to be Tyler Guyton," Prescott said. "Doesn't really matter who played here before him. He didn't get to play with him and, you know, I'm sure when he got here someone probably told him he needs to carry the intensity Tyron has. At the end of the day, you need to be yourself and the best version of yourself. And he's already showed glimpses of that. And I promise you if he does that and is the best version of himself, that's more than enough for us. Super talented guy. As I mentioned, super smart, and as he continues to put it all together, he'll be a big foundation there for us."
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