Tyler Booker Is Already Playing Like a Veteran-and the Cowboys May Have Found Their Next Great Lineman
When the Dallas Cowboys were on the clock with the 12th overall pick in April’s draft, the board didn’t fall exactly how they’d hoped. Their top target, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, was snatched up four picks earlier. But even with talented wideouts like Emeka Egbuka and Matthew Golden still available, and intriguing defensive options like Walter Nolen sitting there too, the Cowboys stuck to what’s become a familiar script over the last decade-plus: invest in the trenches.
Enter Tyler Booker.
The former Alabama guard didn’t come in with the flash of a skill position player, and he wasn’t the headline-grabbing pick fans might have been hoping for. But make no mistake - this was a move grounded in football logic.
With Zack Martin retiring this past offseason, Dallas had a gaping hole on the interior of its offensive line. Rather than gamble on finding a plug-and-play guard later in the draft, the Cowboys went with the guy they believed could anchor that spot from Day 1.
So far? That belief looks well-placed.
Through 12 games, Booker has been one of the most reliable rookie linemen in the league - and not just by rookie standards. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s allowed the fewest quarterback pressures (16) and the second-fewest sacks (2) among all rookie offensive linemen.
He’s also posted the highest offensive grade (72.4) and the top run block grade (79.1) in that group. That run block mark ranks seventh among all interior offensive linemen in the NFL.
That’s not just solid. That’s special.
“I’m just being the best version of myself,” Booker said this week. “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.”
That leadership has shown up on the field, especially against top-tier competition. Over the past two weeks, Booker has faced off against two of the league’s most disruptive interior defenders: Jalen Carter of the Eagles and Chris Jones of the Chiefs - ranked second and third among defensive tackles in a preseason ESPN poll of NFL executives.
Booker didn’t square off with them on every snap, but when he did, he held his own. He allowed just one quarterback pressure in each matchup and gave up zero sacks.
That’s not just surviving - that’s thriving against the best of the best.
Still, Booker isn’t ready to pat himself on the back just yet.
“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.”
So, where does he want to be?
“When it’s all said and done, I want a gold jacket,” he said, referring to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “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.”
That kind of ambition isn’t new in Dallas - but it resonates even more when it’s backed by performance. And Booker’s early play is drawing comparisons to a lineage of Cowboys first-round linemen who’ve turned into franchise cornerstones.
Tyron Smith in 2011. Travis Frederick in 2013.
Zack Martin in 2014. Tyler Smith in 2022.
That’s a legacy Booker is already working to join - and maybe even surpass.
“I not only want to win,” he said. “I want to dominate.”
At just 21 years old, the New Haven, Connecticut native is already showing he has the tools, the mindset, and the motor to do just that. If the first 12 games are any indication, the Cowboys may have landed yet another foundational piece up front - and Booker’s not just filling a gap. He’s setting a tone.