The Dallas Cowboys announced three roster moves Wednesday. Only one of them is about Tyler Smith.
Smith, a guard, goes to reserve/injured-designated for return. That designation matters more than the label suggests. It requires at least a four-game absence before he's eligible to play again, but it keeps the door open for a return this season instead of closing it. Dallas bought itself a window rather than losing a starter outright.
The other two moves are the tell. Nick Leverett signed from the practice squad to the active roster, and Laken Tomlinson signed to the practice squad. Both are guards. Dallas didn't reshuffle tackles or promote a swing lineman. It added two interior bodies on the same afternoon, which is what a team does when the depth chart behind a starter was thinner than anyone admitted in August.
Leverett gets the first opportunity because he's the one on the 53-man roster. Tomlinson sits on the practice squad as the next man up, one elevation away if Leverett struggles. That pecking order got set in a single day.
The competitive math is straightforward. Dallas heads into its next game, against the Giants, with a rebuilt interior and a four-game minimum before Smith is eligible again. Running the ball and keeping the pocket clean are the two things this offense can least afford to lose, and both run through the guards.
Here's where I land. The Smith injury is survivable. The roster construction is the real concern. A contender shouldn't need three guard transactions on Sept. 9. If Leverett holds up for a month, this is a footnote. If he doesn't, Dallas is one injury away from starting a practice-squad guard, and that's a bet the front office chose not to hedge against in the offseason.
