After The Tyron Smith Injury, NFC East is The Eagles For The Taking
Tyron Smith is a very good LT. You could argue when healthy, he is the best LT in the league. But staying healthy has been a major issue for him. And now he finds himself injured again. The Cowboys All-Pro Tackle has suffered an avulsion fracture of the knee. He is out until at least December, and possibly the whole season. Obviously, injuries are always tragic. Especially when it happens to someone like Tyron Smith, who is among the best Left Tackles of his generation. But with that said, it is undoubtedly beneficial to the Eagles that he can’t play.
#Cowboys standout LT Tyron Smith actually suffered an avulsion fracture of the knee, meaning the hamstring tendon that sits at the back of the knee pulled off the bone and he needs surgery, sources say. If he’s back at all, it’ll be December. A tough loss.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 25, 2022
With Tyron Smith now out until at least December, the Cowboys are in serious trouble. And that makes the NFC East the Eagles division to take. They have historically struggled when Smith is out. All time they are only 1 game over .500 (17-16) in the 33 games they have played without him since drafting him. And this may be the worst year they could have lost him. Mike Kaye pointed out this exact thing when he joined “The Best Show Ever?” last week.
Mike Kaye last week on @975BestShowEver about the Cowboys O Line depth.
— Dylan MacKinnon (@DylanFMackinnon) August 25, 2022
“I think their o-line depth is questionable. They don’t have a swing tackle if they lose one of their tackles they are pretty much SOL.”
Well Tyron Smith just tore his hamstring.
The Cowboys have little to no depth behind him. The first thought may be first-round pick Tyler Smith. But most do not think he is ready to play LT, and he has been working at guard all offseason. The backup tackles they do have little to no experience. The Cowboys are probably in a position where they need to go out and get someone. Eric Fisher and Jason Peters are both available, but neither of them are reliable options. There are not going to be any LTs as good as Tyron Smith available for trade either. They could go for Eagles backup LT Andre Dillard, but the Eagles would likely expect a big return to give up their primary backup to a division rival.
The Cowboys are in trouble. Tyron Smith may be the worst injury they could have had apart from Dak Prescott. Depending on how they go about replacing him, it could take a time that were favorites to win the NFC East, and make them a borderline playoff team. And in their place, the Eagles could become the favorites to win. It sucks that Tyron Smith was injured. But this undoubtedly puts the Eagles in a better position.
