The Cowboys have hit on another first-round O-lineman, and the numbers prove it
When the Dallas Cowboys were on the clock with the No. 12 pick in April’s draft, they had a lot of options they could choose from.
Even though their biggest target coming into the night, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, was taken four picks earlier, there were still intriguing receivers such as Emeka Egbuka and Matthew Golden left on the board. And after whiffing on Mazi Smith in the first round in 2023, grabbing a defensive tackle like Walter Nolen also presented some intrigue.
However, the Cowboys — like they have done so many times since drafting Tyron Smith in 2011 — went right back to the well of offensive linemen, as they selected Alabama guard Tyler Booker.
It wasn’t the sexiest of picks, but it didn’t need to be. After the offseason retirement of Zack Martin, the Cowboys had a hole in need of filling. Instead of taking a blind swing at a guard later in the draft, they decided to take the sure thing.
And while draft picks can rarely be called sure things, Booker has been just that through 12 games.
Among all rookie offensive linemen in the NFL through Week 13, Booker has allowed the fewest quarterback pressures (16) and the second-fewest sacks (two) while posting the highest offensive grade (72.4) and the highest run block grade (79.1), per Pro Football Focus. His run block grade ranks seventh among all interior offensive linemen in the NFL.
“I’m just being the best version of myself,” Booker said Monday. “I know I bring a certain level of physicality to the game, some communication. And then just who I am, I bring a certain level of leadership to the room as well.”
In the past two weeks, Booker has faced off against two of the more elite defensive tackles in the NFL: the Eagles’ Jalen Carter and the Chiefs’ Chris Jones. In a preseason ESPN poll of executives around the NFL, Jones and Carter were ranked as the second- and third-best defensive tackles, respectively, in the league.
While Booker did not line up against those guys on every snap, he allowed only one quarterback pressure in each of those contests and zero sacks.
His performance has put him on the map of being one of the rising stars at the guard position in the NFL. But to him, there was a lot to tweak coming out of those games, too.
“I played decent against two of the best defensive tackles in the NFL, and I feel like I still have a lot more room to grow,” he said. “It’s good that I played well, played all right, against those two guys, but I know that there’s more that I can get better at to be where I want to be at the end of the day.”
And where does Booker want to be at the end of the day?
“When it’s all said and done, I want a gold jacket [for the Pro Football Hall of Fame],” he said. “And I know that sounds pretty lofty sitting here in my rookie year, but I know everything that I do and everything within me is striving toward that. Having the yellow jacket and winning multiple Super Bowls here in Dallas, that’s my big-time goals.”
It’s still early for the 21-year-old from New Haven, Connecticut, but the early returns have the Cowboys believing that they have once again hit on another first-round offensive lineman. The success stories have been aplenty in the last 15 years: Tyron Smith in 2011, Travis Frederick in 2013, Zack Martin in 2014 and Tyler Smith in 2022.
Booker wants to be next in that long list.
“I not only want to win,” he said, “I want to dominate.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 5:11 PM.
