Well, this is not a post that I thought I would have to write just a few days before week one kickoff against the Giants!
If somehow you have not seen the news, the Dallas Cowboys told us all on Monday afternoon that Tyler Smith had to have surgery on his thumb, but was dealing with it all summer and tried to find a fix before doing this.
I don’t know the full details, but you can’t tell me that this shouldn’t have been done then, and maybe he misses 1 or 2 games and not 4 or 6. This just sucks all around.
He is the best interior lineman in football, and this offensive line already had depth issues, but now the highest paid backup on the team has to PROVE he is just that.
![Patrik [No C] Walker avatar](https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1946640157798494209/XNWwENH__bigger.jpg){kind=small}
Giants
Commanders
Ravens
Texans
TJ Bass will be put to major tests, weekly.
T.J. Bass
He joined the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and has become a trusted member of the roster, and he is a guy that I was super high on when Dallas signed him.
Entering the 2026 season, Bass has started 10 games for the Cowboys since 2023, made five starts in 2025, and earned a 67.6 overall grade from PFF. It clearly isn’t Tyler Smith, but it is hard to compare that to legit the best guard in all of football.
Still, if one guy should be able to at least make us feel a little bit better, it is the fact that, yes, losing smith will be felt, but they have the best backup on the roster making a little over $5 million dollars to be a backup.
This team already had issues with the tackle spots, and now with Smith out, they are going to have to have at least Tyler Guyton get to a level above average. He has not been good for awhile, but he has all the raw talent in the world.
Tyler Booker needs to take another step in his second season, and Cooper Beebe is just fine at center.
Again, Bass is the highest paid backup on the team for a reason, but losing your All-Pro guy and needing him to fill in instead of, on the other hand, is not ideal.
I think they could survive without Smith, but it is going to look ugly at times, no doubt about it. They need to now for sure start the year 2-0 against the Giants this week and the Commanders next week.
After that, they have two very tough games against the Ravens and the Texans, two defensive fronts that can get after this offensive line if they are struggling.
Schotty has said that the blind side of Dak Prescott is going to be an on-going battle with Terence Steele, and that is not a good sign, I hate losing Smith, but again, you have your best backup to be able to step in and hopefully just be good enough until he returns.
I would play him as soon as possible if they can get him in after his 4 weeks on IR are done, throw a glove on that hand like they do for some guys that have other injuries and let him be average. He is still better than most guys at 80%.
I think about it this way though. Do you think the offense would struggle more if they lost CeeDee Lamb or Tyler Smith? And as good as Tyler is, I think losing Lamb would make the offense worse.
They still have Lamb and GP out there, the offensive line just has to be average while Smith is out, and I think they will honestly be okay, but still a major hit to start the season.
Was this helpful?
Comments