Cowboys Rookie Reveals Why He Feels Ready to Make a Strong Impact

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Guard Tyler Booker of Alabama poses after being selected 12th overall by the Dallas Cowboys during the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Dallas Cowboys are famous for their dominant offensive line, and their most recent highly touted O-lineman feels ready to add his name to the list of greats.

Tyler Booker, who Dallas chose with the 12th pick in last month’s draft, feels he is ready to jump right in and contribute for the Cowboys in 2025.

Booker was the first guard selected at the draft last month and was the fourth offensive lineman chosen. The 6-4, 321-pound offensive lineman, picked from Alabama, got a 6.38 combine grade, meaning he will be “eventually be a plus starter” according to NFL.com.

Yet, Booker thinks he will have an impact sooner than “eventually.”

Why Is Tyler Booker Think He Is Ready To Contribute?

Booker was a highly rated prospect coming out of Alabama, and he thinks playing in the SEC, and against pro-caliber opposition, has set him up for success in the NFL.

“It’s definitely prepared me a lot — talent level and the way we do things in the SEC,” Booker said, according to the Cowboys website. “In the SEC, things are done to a higher standard. There’s a lot more expected out of you than in other conferences, and that’s proven on a week-by-week basis.”

Booker cited the impressive number of defensive players that come from SEC schools, now more than ever since legacy programs Texas and Oklahoma joined the conference in 2024.

Booker played against most of the elite defensive tackles and linebackers during his three seasons at Alabama — plus those from the University of Michigan, who the Crimson Tide played in bowl games in consecutive seasons.

“You see how much success SEC players have in the NFL,” Booker said. “That’s definitely prepared me for where I am today.”

Plus, even though the Crimson Tide lost only eight games in his tenure in Tuscaloosa, Booker also learned valuable lessons about adversity there, especially in Alabama’s 9-4 season under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer in 2024.

“This last year helped me a lot, not just as a football player but as a man,” Booker said, according to the Cowboys website.. “Going into [last] year with a lot of uncertainty and having to weather the storm, and then just not having the success that I wanted, that I was the same person every day. Even when we were losing the games that we shouldn’t have lost, I was the same person. I was the same Tyler Booker, every day.

“That taught me how to be resilient even more than I already was. I feel like this last year, that last year at Alabama added more to who I am as a man.”

What Are Tyler Booker’s Coaches Saying About Him?

Booker believes he’ll step right in and be a leader in the Cowboys locker room, which seems natural to people who know him best.

“His personality lends itself to be up front, to be a leader,” Booker’s high school coach Kyle Brey of IMG Academy told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram last month. “He’s such an authentic human being to begin with. It allows people to buy into him. He was someone that you were almost spoiled as a coach [to have].”

Cowboys’ first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer was also not shy about telling Booker how he felt about picking him.

“You blew us away in the process. You just come here and be you,” Schottenheimer reportedly said. “Welcome to the family. We’re so fired up.”

Pat Pickens Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times, USA Today and many more. He is the author of the 2021 nonfiction book “The Whalers” and director/producer of the 2025 documentary film with the same name about the history of the NHL’s Hartford Whalers. More about Pat Pickens