The Dallas Cowboys have some moves to their starting lineup in Week 6, and it’s not entirely injury-related. With Eric Kendricks out for the game, rookie fourth-round pick Marist Liufau will wear the green dot, allowing direct communication with defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. That was to be expected since Kendricks missed the entire week of practice with a back injury and was out Friday.

What wasn’t expected was that Tyler Guyton, the club’s first-round pick, would be on the bench for the game. Guyton injured his knee relatively early in Dallas’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was considered questionable whether he would return, but never did as left guard Tyler Smith slid outside and the offense stabilized.

Dallas announced via sideline reporter Kristi Scales that Guyton will not face Aidan Hutchinson and the Detroit Lions despite participating fully in practice all week. Guyton had no injury report on Friday’s injury report.

Guyton has struggled so far in his rookie year, both in pass protection and run blocking. The Cowboys had their first worthwhile ground action of the season in Week 6, and it came primarily with Smith returning to his role as a rookie in 2022 and subbing in TJ Bass at left guard.

Guyton has allowed four sacks and 13 pressures this year. Pro Football Focus has the Oklahoma product rated 49.0 in pass protection, a red grade that indicates he is below replacement level.

His run block grade wasn’t much better at 52.5.

Smith, who had an excellent pass pro grade before being eliminated against the Steelers, didn’t perform much better than Guyton’s average, finishing with a grade of 54.2 in this contest. But he had an impressive run blocking performance. Meanwhile, Bass earned a low grade of 11.0 in 31 pass sets.

It will be interesting to see if the change has an overall positive impact on the Dallas offense.