Cowboys Look To Rebuild Offensive Line With Controversial First-Round Pick Tyler Booker

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Dallas Cowboys took an offensive lineman in the first round. That is, for the third time in the past four years.

Alabama guard Tyler Booker was the first guard off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft, going 12th-overall to the Cowboys. The pick was a puzzling one to many fans and analysts – not because of Booker’s talent, but because guards are a generally less valued position. For the Cowboys, whose second-string wide receiver behind Ceedee Lamb is currently Jalen Tolbert, the expectation was a pick to bolster that receiving corps.

Instead, the Cowboys took Booker. Why? Well, for one, he’s been named to the first team All-SEC twice and was first-team All-American in the 2024 season. At six feet four inches and 326 pounds, he’s a monster for defensive lines to deal with. And the Cowboys have faith in the ability of his “exceptional” technique to translate to the NFL.

“I wasn’t surprised that I went as high as I did,” Booker said. “It’s something I have been working on my whole life. I know what I bring to a team, and what some of the ‘experts’ aren’t privy to are how well I do in the classroom, how well I do on the board and my leadership and what I bring to the team.

“So the Cowboys didn’t just draft a right guard that is going to come in and play after one of the greatest guards of all time. They also drafted a great leader, someone who is going to change their culture, someone who is going to improve their culture, improve their program and improve their team for years to come or however long the Lord sees fit.”

The last time Dallas drafted three first-round offensive linemen in four Drafts, they got Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin. With Martin and Smith both retiring this past year after spending their careers as cornerstones of the Cowboys’ offense, Dallas can only hope for similar results.