What Jerry Jones, Brian Schottenheimer said about drafting Tyler Booker in first round

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, vice president Stephen Jones and head coach Brian Schottenheimer met with the media after the Cowboys drafted Tyler Booker with their first-round draft pick on Thursday, April 25. Here’s everything they had to say:

On Tyler Booker’s position on the board:

Jerry Jones: “Listening to everybody talk about it, we’re very aware of the challenges we have in our division. In the center of the line. It has everything to do with when you make somebody the highest paid player in the NFL, you’d like to have something in front of you. That’s kind of cute talk, but it’s really fact talk. We are interested in making sure we had the kind of protection, and frankly the ability to move the big guys out. That was a big part of the thinking in my vernacular.”

Brian Schottenheimer: “I think when you looked at it, we were number one thrilled about the young man. The power, the strength. When you sit down and you visit with this guy, he’s an alpha. He knows what he wants. He knows how good he is. He knows how talented he is, and I think you look at what you got with Tyler Smith at left guard, Cooper Beebe, and now you add this guy, the interior of your pocket, the core of your run game, all that stuff inside. You wanna move people, and we want to own the line of scrimmage and this is the guy that gives us a chance to do that with the pieces we have in place.”

Stephen Jones: “I think Jerry (Jones) said it best. If you look at our division, we’ve got some top defensive tackles in our division. We understand that and not gonna be able to move them around now. You’re either gonna pick Tyler Smith or Tyler Booker, so good luck. We like our guy. He was a hell of a solid pick, and he’s gonna be a great player. I don’t want to talk for Coach (Brian Schottenheimer), he makes those decisions, but I can’t imagine he doesn’t walk in here day one a starter for us.”

JJ: “What I was impressed with is the rehearsal we did yesterday to address the exact situation that we were sitting there with and going over in the debate between the players on our board that were there. I think it was unbelievable that we had spent 30 minutes on it, an hour on it yesterday just like if we were sitting right there in the draft room and played out. So we had a real good feeling about the qualities of (Tyler) Booker and aired out real good about what it could do for this team and of what he brought to the team. I don’t think we’ve ever hit one right on the money like we practiced on yesterday.”

Will McClay: They did come down like that a few times as we were going through scenarios.

On if there were any thoughts of a trade tonight:

JJ: Yes, the way of what was there. We didn’t get a trade. We were there. (Walter) Nolen was on the board and Booker sitting there. I’m just saying ‘what’s best for this team?’ What is unanimous, and I’ll tell you what we had that one nailed, and Stephen (Jones) will get into that if we can hear him. But we had a good plan to trade out if we had takers or had offers to trade out. So that was a part of the plan, but this guy is such a leadership person and such a dynamic person. His approach to football as a leader of a team within a team, the offensive line. That caused him to get our attention yesterday when we were looking at the likelihood of the possibility of him being there.

On possible trade scenarios in the first round:

JJ: Stephen was on the phone. We had exhausted the complete possibility of a trade. We had finality of it, and we still had two or three minutes left on the phone. The trade did not work for us. We did not want to make the trade, and we immediately knew that when we got through that we would make the pick. So yes, real possibilities right up until two minutes before the bell ring.

SJ: We had hard offers for the pick and unless it was the pick because we liked our player. Unless it was a really significant trade then we were gonna pass.

On what made Tyler Booker special:

BS: When we looked at him, I feel that he’s an immediate starter. A guy that’s gonna play for a long time at a very high level. He’s a guy that can impose his will. He’s a guy that’s gonna impact not just the offensive line, but the team. When you meet the young man and you’re around him, the type of competitor he is, his personality. Again you lose a guy like

Zack (Martin), you don’t have to replace him, but we felt like this is a guy that comes in immediately and fills a big void for us. We’re just beyond excited that we were able to get him.

WM: When you go in there, you look for starter type players, and he’s a starting type guard. The other thing that’s interesting, Coach mentioned Zack. Well I went back and looked, and I was talking to Stephen. Our grades are very similar to what we had to Zack. Some of the character traits. There’s a lot of things that are very similar. He’s his own individual, but he’s a grown ass man like Zack is. So you put someone in there that makes us a stronger, more physical team.

On how else the team needs to help Dak through the draft in the next couple of days:

JJ: “Well, unquestionably we were motivated that it does help our quarterback. It helps our running game. We have had some experience with this. If you look back to when we had top players on our offensive line and you look at the kind of

success we had during those times, some of Dak’s earlier career, when Zeke was here early. We give a lot of credit to the quality of the offensive line for having that kind of success. That kind of success didn’t get us a Super Bowl, but it had us around the rim a few times, having that kind of strength in the offensive line. We need to play to our strengths; Dak is a strength. Enhancing that makes all the sense in the world, relative to comparing it to a receiver in the passing game for Dak. It makes all the sense in the world. If you think about it, they are both Dak friendly.”

On whether there are any offensive linemen named Tyler in the 2026 Draft that they would consider drafting: WM: “If there is, we will find him. If he is good enough, then he will be a part of this Great Wall of Tyler or whatever we are calling it now.”

On the importance of draft prospects loving football and how they found out from Tyler Booker his love of football:

WM: “You get it from the school. You see it on film No. 1. You get it from people at the school who have experienced him. Then our scouts spend individual time with him, then we saw him at the Combine and spent time with him. Then we got him in here, then on the phone, and you find out more and more. When we had the press conference the other day, it is about the people as well. We found out what type of determination he has, where he comes from. The thing that helps build your team – when you have a great leader like Dak, you surround him with great players that have the same mentality. That gives us a shot, and this kid has that.”

On how much they spoke with people at IMG Academy about Tyler:

WM: “We talked to IMG Academy, where he is working out, where he went to school. We went through all those things, and it was consistent with his work ethic, about his competitiveness, about how much of a dog he was. You see it on tape, and again, it is just re-affirmed at every opportunity you get to talk to people about him. There is no wavering on it. There is a consistency about who this guy is.”

On Coach Schottenheimer playing Whitney Houston in the office during the 30 visit with Tyler: BS: “When that song came on, I don’t remember exactly what we were doing; we weren’t dancing, that is for damn sure. You saw when he ran out on the stage tonight, he had some good moves. That shows the athleticism. I’m a big music guy. It was early in the morning, and I was getting us both to wake up a little bit.”

On whether Tyler Booker will compete for a starting job on the offensive line:

BS: “Our motto is ‘Compete Every Day.’ That doesn’t matter whether you are Dak Prescott or Micah Parsons. It doesn’t matter. When you see the traits that this young man has, he is going to come in and he is going to compete for it. From every stop; playing in high school, going to IMG, going to Alabama, he has found his way into the starting lineup. Again, I’m not just excited about the player, I am extremely excited about the person.”

JJ: “In football, you have to make a decision, when you are paying them, of how they are going to compete for the starting spot. When you make a commitment to a first round pick or you make a commitment in terms of salary, you do want competition, but you are betting the house that you have the winner in any kind of competition out there. It is just logic.”

On potential trades factoring into their thinking about who to draft:

JJ: “This one didn’t affect our position on the possibility of a trade. That’s the best way to answer it.”

On whether there are players still available after day one that they feel good about:

WM: “There are good football players all over the board still. That is why you have the draft, and the best part of the way the Draft is set up now is you have another day to get ready ahead of time, and go through your strategy and look at things. There are a lot of good football players there. We have needs and there are players that can fill it.”

SJ: “We have more than 12 players that would be worthy of that pick [pick 44]. We are 12 back, so we should get a good player.”

On whether they are surprised by some of the talented players that are still on the board: WM: It is the Draft. Everybody has their board. I know you guys follow mock drafts and grade drafts before these guys even play, but everybody has their own board. They have done their homework and have it graded a certain way. This is a unique draft from the standpoint of, there are typically four to five quarterbacks that everyone is fighting for. There are typically six to seven wide receivers. There are typically corners. There isn’t that much depth early at the top [this year]. So, there are going to be good players that are going to be sprinkled throughout the draft. It will be an interesting rest of the draft.”

SJ: “The only thing I would add to that Will, is that as you go through the draft and get later into the second round and third round, opinions go like that [diverge]. The first round, I would say for the most part, people know who is going to go in

that first round. Once you go to the second, third, fourth, it branches out. We feel really good going forward that we will get players that we really scouted and feel good about. We have nine picks left and look forward to picking them.”

On if this feels reminiscent of rebuilding the “elite unit” OL like it the 2011-2014 stretch: SJ: “Yes. We just had two Hall of Fame OLs retire within a month between Tyron Smith and Zack Martin – they were a big part of that. And then you look at our division, you have to start with beating the guys in your division and winning. There’s some really elite interior defensive lines in our division and we do want to build that offensive line. I think that’s a part of it. I think we’ve taken a big step towards doing that. We’re thrilled with our first-round pick last year in Tyler Guyton on the left side. Obviously, we think a lot of Steele. I feel like we’re taking that journey now and it all starts right there. As Jerry said, we want to protect the guy who is the most expensive guy in the league and we want to complement CeeDee and what we’re doing with him. I think all of this helps bring that all together.”

JJ: “Along those same lines, I look back at Prime Time when we had the effects of the top number one picks that we’ve had. Our ability to pay them on their second contracts, so that you can retain that. If you look at that, you may disagree with me, but I feel we were hanging around the rim. We were knocking at the door. Behind that, we had rookie fourth round quarterback make All-Rookie. We had running backs playing well. It gave us a team that we would think wouldn’t be bad to be right there. We didn’t get to playoffs where we wanted to be, or the Super Bowl but we got there. We have a top, top team there. The makeup that we have on our team and the players we have right now - this is a very good way to get something big time done in the next two or three years. This makes a lot of sense timewise.”

On Dak’s contract shaping the approach to building the organization and adding pieces around that. JJ: “It was part of the commitment. As we found out, that doesn’t help make him the highest paid player if he’s not on the football field, so you have to protect him. And you have to have a plan or an offense that gives him some protection as you look ahead. All of that went into the thinking before we made the contract extensions with him. Not after. How are we going to handle this thing? Of course, Schotty, one of the reasons he’s the head coach – he believes we run the ball a little bit more. He’s going to believe in things that are a little bit more Dak-friendly in terms of how to operate, and a part of that is protection for Dak. All of that is part of it. You have to go from where you are, not where you wish you were. This is a pretty nice direct point to get to where we want to be, competition-wise. By going with the offensive lineman.”

On Shotty’s hiring an offensive line coach as offensive coordinator to make sure the offensive line is performing at a high-level:

BS: “After the turnover battle, the number one way you win games is you own the line of scrimmage. Not just offense, but defense as well. You saw us make some moves in the off-season free agency to fill some holes on defense. There’s a commitment to playing physical on both sides of the lines of scrimmage. This young man comes in extremely powerful - he’s a mauler, and again having guys like Klayton, Tyler Guyton to help develop him and develop the entire unit, whether it’s Guyton, Beebe, Steele. There’s going to be a commitment to us owning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. That was part of the hiring process for sure.”

On last couple of first-round picks being offensive lines that have moved from the opposite side they played in college, and feeling confident about successfully transitioning Tyler Booker:

BS: “It’s a little bit of a learning curve, but they can do it. All these guys cross-train at some point in practice. It’s such a fluid thing, you have to be able to move things around and so the ability to move him around is not something we have any concerns about. He’s a damn good football player. Is there a little bit of a learning curve where they have to learn their stance and sets, yes. At the end of the day, it’s football. You go really, really fast one way and if someone gets in your way, you knock the shit ouf of them.”

JJ: “Tyron Smith, right tackle. Could he go to the left? What are you talking about?”

SJ: “Hall of Famer.”

JJ: “Yeah. I would say that I don’t even know that I thought about what side of the line he was playing on to tell you the truth. But I’m just saying – this guy may be a little further out, but you put him inside and you put him with that big Beebe and you put him in there with Tyler. We might have a tush push.”

On Schotty’s feeling while being on the clock and what he’ll remember the most about being in the war room during his first draft as head coach:

BS: “I really think Jerry and Stephen spoke to it. The exercises we ran through yesterday, the mock drafts, the things that we talked through. It was very calming in there. We had talked through a lot of these scenarios; we had a lot of discussions. Obviously, you’re always going to listen to people when they call and see if there’s things you want to do. I just think we felt very prepared, which makes you feel very confident. As we discussed the different scenarios, It was pretty clear for us that we had the right guy.”

On what Jerry’s conversation with Tyler Booker’s mother was like:

JJ: “He was so excited about joining the team, team being the offensive line. He was so aware of what our situation is. It was just like you were sitting there talking to Tyler Smith, it felt like he had been here that long. We had a good visit. I did not get to visit with his mom when he visited, but it was a good conversation we had tonight.”

On if there is any consideration moving Tyler Smith to left tackle:

BS: “I think at the end of the day, we are going to play our best five. But right now, we have all the confidence in the world that Tyler Guyton – going into year two – is going to take the steps that most young players take. At the end of the day, we’re going to play our best five guys on [the offensive line]. Our best 11 are going to play. That’s the football team. Again, it’s not just the word. You have to compete every day to get better, and you have to compete every day to show your teammates that it’s important to you. We talk all the time that we want world class competitors. When you add a guy like Tyler Booker that is a world class competitor, he makes everybody around him better with the way he practices, with the way he talks and his confidence. As a coach, it gets you really excited.”

On creating competition for Dallas’ offensive line:

BS: “You are always looking to add valuable pieces. You guys know how I feel about Brock Hoffman. Rob Jones is a really good football player. It’s a physical, violent position that these guys play. You can never have enough. We’ve all had the growing pains and different rotations. Again, I think it’s a high-value position where you need guys that have flexibility and they can play different spots. You don’t know how bad you need the position until you don’t have it. You’re in a division with Jalen Carter and Dexter Lawrence and some really good football players. Those are matchups that we look forward to.”

JJ: “Let me give you another point to look at here. Tyler Guyton…what do you think the odds are that Tyler Guyton will have a sophomore year better than his freshman year? What do you think the odds are that he will be able to have discipline on pre-snap penalties? What do you think those odds are as opposed to drafting the number one pick in the draft? They are just as good of odds, and the facts are that we do not know any of this. Only the man upstairs knows about what those injuries are going to be or what they’re doing. This isn’t a widow’s pension plan we are trying to build here. So it’s weighing, which gives you the best chance for the risk. And I love opinions. We’ve got opinions, but do you really think any of us know whether or not Tyler Guyton is going to get hurt? Of course we don’t, but you weigh your odds. This gives us some good odds that we’re going to have the offensive line that we thought we would have last year. We didn’t think at all what would happen to us last year happened to us, so we are trying to learn from our own experiences. That influenced this pick.”

On if he saw Tyler Booker joined Micah Parsons’ live stream and thoughts on Parsons’ reaction: BS: “I actually did see it as I was walking over here. It gets you excited man. This is a special team we are trying to build and a special culture. Micah realizes what good offensive linemen do. He goes against them every week, so when you see things like that it is just the beginning. And we are not done. We are not done adding pieces like that. Character matters, and the talent matters. As a coach, you get excited seeing stuff like that.”

WM: “Competition brings out the best in everybody. Even if they don’t play the same position, they are competing against one another. Offensive is competing against the defense. Competitors love competitors. They sense that, and they feel that. If you build a team and a locker room full of it, you will be a competitive team all the way through. Part of our objective is to find good players, but also competitive people that love football.”

On offensive line coach Conor Riley’s thoughts about Tyler Booker:

WM: “We went through and worked him out and went through all the steps to figure out that he could do everything we needed him to do as an offensive lineman. It’s all there on tape. He can do it all.”

BS: “I remember [Coach Riley] just talking about the power and the lower body strength and the play style. Those are the words I remember him talking about, and how they jumped off the film.”

On Booker’s confidence in himself:

BS: “I think when you talk about competitors, you look for guys that have chips on their shoulder. Guys that have maybe had to go through hard times and bounce back from that. You look at a guy that was in Connecticut, gets a chance to go to IMG, performs very well down there and all of a sudden, he is in a recruiting battle. He ends up going to Alabama. He wants to go play football against the best with the best, and you love that about him. The wiring of the individual matters.

There is going to be tough times. He’s going to lose a matchup or two. That’s football, but guys that are wired the right way and guys that carry that chip on their shoulder, those are some of the best players I’ve ever been around as a coach. You love to coach them because you can challenge them every day, and you can push them every day to be better. It’s a special trait that not every player in the league has.”

JJ: “I heard the word ‘safe’ as in a ‘safe pick’. I bet I heard it 20 times. The word ‘safe’ in having an offensive line is so important because when you have inconsistent availability, or you have inconsistent reliability relative to your discipline; the word ‘safe’ to your offensive line is a big deal. And that was the pick right there on it. If we simply can line up and not give back more yards than we are making this coming year, we will be well down the road on having a lot more wins. Our offensive line did need addressing. You say addressing from within, yes, but this gives us a touch to it too. The other thing, Will, that I heard that I did not hear that much any place was what a leader he is. He’s a real leader. Just an active real leader.”

WM: “He took great pride in that in the offensive line room at Alabama. He wanted to be the leader with all of those guys around him. Guys who want to be leaders, they take it upon themselves and they have do it the right way and guys will follow. As a young player doing that, even though he’s not a leader [yet], we feel like he can be a leader amongst the group just by how he works and what he does. That was a strong part of the evaluation of him as well.”

On the perception of needing a wide receiver in this Draft and if there is still a high-caliber skill player available: WM: “There are still good football players there. That is why we go through the process of looking at all their talents and their skill sets. We go through it with the coaches, and there are traits that we are looking for. That’s why we have great coaches to develop those as well. There are players that come in this league from all different parts of the Draft. We have

to do our job well to identify those, and I still feel good that there are opportunities there and it doesn’t end. As Stephen says, player acquisition is 24/7, 365 [days a year].”

This story was originally published April 25, 2025 at 4:00 AM.