OXNARD, Calif. — As a first-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, Tyler Guyton knew he had to set a tone early in training camp. And not necessarily on the field. 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 favorite song was “Mary Jane” by Rick James and the whole room – players, coaches, staff – roared in approval.

“Yeah, I did my thing,” Guyton said. “I had to.”

The positive impression continued a few days later. During a game of Jeopardy! that special teams coordinator John Fassel has played during team meetings for the past five years, Guyton was chosen to spell hippo.

“I thought that was very disrespectful, so I quickly spelled it out,” Guyton joked. “Who doesn’t know how to spell hippo?”

The man who needs Guyton most, quarterback Dak Prescott, liked it better than most.

“The guy jumped up there and spelled it out as quickly and without hesitation as I’ve ever seen,” Prescott said of the Cowboys’ young left tackle and No. 29 overall pick in the draft. “To be honest, I’m still completely blown away. So that’s definitely the intelligence and the confidence. And obviously it shows on the field.”

That’s most important as the Cowboys look to replace eight-time Pro Bowler Tyron Smith. Injuries have limited Smith’s availability in recent years, but he has remained one of the league’s best left tackles.

Smith was the beginning of 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.

Together they were nominated for the Pro Bowl 23 times.

“I don’t know where I’m going,” Guyton said. “I’m just focusing on myself and working every day to become a better person.”

At just 22, Guyton has already shown he’s serious about this. Two days after being drafted, he moved to Frisco, Texas, to begin training. When the rookies’ offseason program ended in mid-June, he stayed in town to work with Duke Manyweather and OL Masterminds.

“Every day. I didn’t travel. I didn’t go on vacation,” Guyton said. “I stayed and worked with Duke every single day.”

Guyton missed two days because of blown tires due to North Texas roads, Manyweather said. When Guyton originally approached Manyweather, the coach reached out to Bill Bedenbaugh, Oklahoma’s offensive line coach.

“Bill has coached a lot of good players and he’s going to listen to me honestly,” Manyweather said. “He had no qualms when it came to Tyler. When Tyler contacted me on Saturday after the draft, he said he was ready to work. With these guys who just got paid really well and just went through a grueling (draft) process, you have to deal with everything – and he showed up and consciously pushed his development, even after minicamp. I was very impressed.”

Guyton trained with Manyweather five or six days a week, refining his technique and gaining strength. Manyweather started by teaching him “how to get his feet on the ground.”

“When you’re teaching new things, retention and imitation are key,” Manyweather said. “Tyler can imitate things. He’s taken his physical gifts and turned them into tools. Whenever we do something, I explain why we’re doing it, how it works and how it would be applied. Then he does a few debriefs and then you know they’re starting to get it.”

“That’s important, but this guy is still a rookie. He’s going to have some ups and downs and it’s not going to be all sunshine and roses every day of the week.”

Guyton played a full season at Oklahoma, but as a right tackle to protect the blind side of left-handed quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Guyton said the transition to the left side was smooth, but acknowledged he had to adjust to the speed of the game.

“I have to earn a living again, work my way up the system and start understanding this level of football,” Guyton said.

He has a good pass rusher that he can learn from.

Due to an illness, Guyton has missed a few recent practices, but he’s getting back into the swing of things. Before his illness, he performed well in one-on-one drills with All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons. Coaches believe working out 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 let Tyler dominate me,” Parsons said. “But against other pass rushers in the league, I’m more than welcome to give him tips and help him find his own path. … It’s going to 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 reserve players in organized team activities and minicamp. He also began training camp with the reserve players, but before an illness forced him to miss two practices wearing protective gear, he began playing with the first team.

“We believe these guys have to fight for everything,” said offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

For Guyton, that’s fine.

“As far as learning goes, I think I have to learn everything,” Guyton said. “I have to work on everything. I’m not a painted picture yet. I still have to work on everything. But it’s just a matter of taking one percent off it every day.”

Guyton grew up a Cowboys fan in a family of Cowboys fans. He attended games at AT&T Stadium. He owns a jersey or two of his current teammates. He watched Smith closely, but Prescott doesn’t want Guyton to think he has to be Smith, who is now with the New York Jets.

“He’s got to be Tyler Guyton,” Prescott said. “It doesn’t really matter who played here before him. He didn’t play with him and I’m sure when he came here, somebody probably told him he had to have the intensity of Tyron. At the end of the day, you’ve got to be yourself and be the best version of yourself. And he’s already shown 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. A super talented guy. Like I mentioned, super smart and if he continues to put it all together, he’s going to be a huge foundation for us there.”