The first round of the 2025 NFL Draft is complete, and the Dallas Cowboys provided an early surprise in this year’s draft. Nearly everyone expected the Cowboys to give franchise QB and former Mississippi State Bulldog Dak Prescott a new weapon to get the ball to on Thursday night. Instead, Dallas elected to get him some better protection.

Cowboys give Dak Prescott a new franchise guard in first round of NFL Draft

The Cowboys selected Alabama offensive guard Tyler Booker with the 12th pick on Thursday. A two-year starter for the Crimson Tide, Booker was an All-American in 2024 and considered the top interior offensive line prospect in the draft.

While not the move anyone was expecting from Dallas, it makes a lot of sense. The Cowboys, long owners of a great offensive line, struggled in that department in 2024. They allowed a lot of sacks and were terrible in the run game.

Making things more difficult is that Dallas’ future Hall of Fame guard Zach Martin chose to retire. Someone has to replace him, and that will be Tyler Booker’s task. With Dak Prescott coming off another injury, it’s understandable that they’d make a move to provide him with better protection in 2025.

The Cowboys still need to find Dak Prescott more help in the NFL Draft

Here’s the rub with this pick: simply adding Tyler Booker doesn’t fix all of the Cowboys problems up front. He’s obviously not going to step in and play at the level of Zach Martin, and both tackle spots are still iffy.

So while this was a smart pick for Dallas as the look to rebuild their offensive line back to its previous elite standard, it’s a necessity that they add better skill talent. If you’re not settled up front, you better have playmakers your QB can work with.

Currently, CeeDee Lamb remains the only high-level pass-catcher Dak Prescott has to throw to, and new running backs Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders don’t suddenly provide him with a running game worth leaning on. If defenses again have no reason to fear anyone not named Lamb in the receiving corps and don’t have to respect the run, Dak is going to be forced to create a lot out of nothing.

Dallas owns pick 44 (Rd. 2) and 76 (Rd. 3) on Friday. They’d be wise to devote both towards offensive skill talent. There are some defensive needs, but they need to be making sure they’re surrounding Dak with the best pieces possible on his side of the ball. And there are good ones available for Day 2.

WRs Luther Burden III (Missouri), Jayden Higgens (Iowa State), and Tre Harris (Ole Miss) and RBs TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State), Kaleb Johnson (Iowa), and Quinshon Judkins (Ohio State) are legit standouts that remain available.

The Cowboys chose to ignore what were arguably their biggest needs on Day 1 because of the depth of talent at those spots that would be available on Day 2, a risky but calculated move. Now they have to pounce and get the Mississippi State legend some much-needed weapons.