Steelers Draft Profile: Fast-Rising Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton Could be Slam Dunk Pick

MOBILE, Ala. — The Pittsburgh Steelers came into the Senior Bowl knowing there would be a glutton of tackles in the 2024 NFL Draft. But just how many were worthy enough of the 20th overall pick was in question. Sure, it felt there were at least five, but after the week, one more player has joined that group — Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton.

Guyton heard the noise about how much of his technique was raw. And that is true. It is. But he wanted to show that despite those questions, he could hang in the NFL right away while learning how to cure those ills.

“I came out here and wanted to prove the doubters wrong,” Guyton said. “That’s something I wanted to prove.”

Guyton took a path that many offensive linemen take. He switched from the defensive side of the ball to offensive tackle. Now, he specializes in playing right tackle, but he feels like he can play on both sides. But he credits Oklahoma for seeing something that he never saw coming, which was a complete switch from one side of the ball to the other.

“They saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself,” Guyton said. “I didn’t think I was tackle, but I was even back then. Really, I just didn’t have that vision for myself. It just happened, but I was all about going through that process.”

Coming into the Senior Bowl, all of the talk about Guyton was his potential, but the lack of tape led to some questions, and now all of them were answered here in Mobile, but I came away thinking that Guyton’s hype as a first-rounder is quite justified.

Let’s start with the negatives. For one, his hang usage and placement are all over the place. Guyton gets wide with his hands and, at times, can get caught bending over, thus stopping his feet and allowing rushers to get past him. But his feet are sweet and smooth. Man, he gets deep into his Saints and looks fluid.

In one-on-ones, no one could consistently stop Guyton from stonewalling pass rushers. He had reps where those technical problems came up, and he has those, but the potential was on display, and he looks more polished in a setting like the Senior Bowl than I thought he would. I would now be comfortable taking him at 20th overall. And his interactions with Mike Tomlin might lead you to believe it could happen.

“Man, that was a dream come true,” Guyton said. “He came up to me and told me I did a good job of finishing and he wanted be to keep being aggressive. I didn’t expect him to come up and tell me anything. I thought it was my coach, but man, it was Mike Tomlin.”

Guyton should test like a freak. And despite his deficiencies with his hand usage and some other minor tweaks, expect him to land within the Top 32 picks come draft time.

TALE OF THE TAPE

Measured at the 2024 NFL Combine:

Height/Weight: 6-foot-7 3/4, 322 pounds Hand Size: 10 1/4 Arm Length: 34 1/8 Wingspan: 82 1/4

Guyton is big guy, but passes the test for the Steelers’ new stringent arm length measurements. They often added guys with better than 35-inch arms, but it seems the threshold is closer to 34-inch arms, which would mean Guyton qualifies there. In terms of physical profiles, everything else fits.

40-Yard Dash: 5.19 Bench Press: DNP Vertical: 34.5 Broad: 8-foot-11

10-Yard Split: 1.76 20-Yard Shuttle: 4.71 3-Cone: 7.50

WHERE WILL TYLER GUYTON BE DRAFTED?

Before the Senior Bowl, Guyton was considered a fringe first-rounder who could end up falling into the second round. He was closer to guys like Jordan Morgan and Patrick Paul than anyone else, but it seems like he has now put himself into the nest tier. So, the NFL Mock Draft Database says that Guyton is 32nd on the consensus board and has continued to rise throughout the season. There is little reason to think that will change, and Guyton should start to creep up even more, potentially into the Top-25, right into the Steelers range.

TYLER GUYTON SCOUTING REPORT

Guyton looks polished and wicked in pass protection. His footwork is insanely quick, and he has recovery length and quickness to mirror edge rushers even when they beat him initially.

Guyton is not a perfect player. On some of the reps he did win, Guyton’s hands got wide, and that could leave him open to getting bullrushed or called for holding. But he has a fiery intensity to his game and the athleticism is there. I think he helped his stock tremendously and looks like a starter.

But those athletic tools give him a floor to meet whenever he goes out on the field. And as a run blocker, he has to eliminate some tendencies, such as playing with a high pad level, allowing edge rushers to scrape across his face. Of those top tackles, he is the rawest with many questions, but the athletic tools and ceiling that come with Guyton are special. And that is why he is rising up boards so quickly when he shows baseline traits that give him a better-than-expected floor. He gave more people a reason to take the risk.

HOW DOES TYLER GUYTON FIT WITH STEELERS?

Guyton is not a bad fit with the Steelers whatsoever. In fact, he makes a good deal of sense. First, he plays right tackle, which is his natural position and could kick Broderick Jones back over to left tackle. That’s an ideal outcome for Pittsburgh when looking at these tackles. But more than that, his athleticism will allow him to get out in space and reach linebackers in those wide zone schemes.

No matter what happens, his struggles in pass-protection skills present somewhat of a problem, considering Jones is already someone who is greener on that side. But like Jones, his athleticism gives you a spectacular benchmark to see where the upside is, and Arthur Smith’s scheme will reward that with how much his lineman are built on speed off the ball, physicality, and athleticism, all things that Guyton has to bring to the table to them.

In other words, the fit makes a lot of sense, and if he is there at 20, he would not be a surprising pick at all, even if the Steelers see the rough edges he has in his game.