FRISCO – New Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer was seen pounding the table in the team’s scouting room ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, in which the Cowboys owned the No. 12 pick.
Following the retirement of franchise great Zack Martin, there was a glaring hole at the right guard spot. Schottenheimer was pleading for players with a high moral character and who loved the game of football, whether they filled that particular void or not.
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Dallas found what it was looking for to satisfy all of those needs and drafted Alabama offensive guard Tyler Booker.
Booker was reputed as a leadership legend with the Crimson Tide. Having been a three-year starter, Booker was the heart and soul of the team. The alpha male. The one his teammates turned to in times of uncertainty or doubt.
He’s also a physically imposing presence in between the lines, with what was – in his words – “dominant” film to prove his first-round pedigree.
Following his selection, Booker was quoted saying he gets the most out of playing football when he’s disrupting the experience for others. “I just love the aggressiveness and the tenacity of the game of football. It’s legal assault out there,” Booker said. “I love football. The brand of football I play, I make guys not love football anymore.”
And now he’s loving a position change.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Booker said of transitioning from the left side at Bama to the right side in Dallas. “You have to think a little bit more, but at the same time, it’s technique that you’re a lot more cognizant of what you’re doing with your body. It’s not too hard because my freshman year at Bama, I would get two drives at left guard and two drives at right guard.
“Shout out to Coach (Nick) Saban and (offensive line) Coach (Eric) Wolford for getting me ready for the NFL.
Saban, it turns out, has been a useful guide all along.
During practices in Tuscaloosa this relentless mentality never wavered, even against his teammates, with Hall of Fame coach Nick Saban looking on.
In a pre-draft interview with The Draft Network, Booker remembers Saban having to tell him to pump the brakes during these intense workouts as a collegiate.
