Cowboys Select Alabama Guard with the Twelfth Pick
The Dallas Cowboys shocked many when they drafted Alabama guard Tyler Booker with the twelfth overall pick during the NFL Draft on April 25th. Most fans expected Dallas to draft an offensive weapon with their first-round pick, with players like Tetairoa McMillan, Matthew Golden, and Omarion Hampton mocked by Dallas in the days ahead of the draft. Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys often do what they feel is best for their team and ignore experts' opinions. They certainly went against the chalk and stuck to their roots by selecting Tyler Booker.
Booker is a powerful guard who is a seamless fit in the new Dallas power run scheme that their new coach, Brian Schottenheimer, and Klayton Adams plan to install in year one. Booker isn't a great athlete, but he has elite power and hand placement, allowing him to constantly move defensive linemen out of place and get to the second level. The Alabama product will likely replace Zack Martin at right guard and will become the third starting “Tyler” in their unit, joining the likes of Tyler Guyton and Tyler Smith. The Cowboys have their starting five offensive line set going into next season, which not a lot of teams can say they have after night one of the draft. Dallas has a young powerful offensive line and while it looks like they will go with a running back by committee approach next season, they will have a powerful offensive line to run behind.
Tyler Booker at twelve may have been a good fit but certainly was a reach at twelve. Booker wasn't a scheme fit for most of the first round, and he likely would have been available at the end of Round One, and many draft experts had him falling into Round Two. This means Dallas could have traded down and landed Booker while also acquiring extra draft picks to fill out the rest of their roster. Dallas took a player they believed in and will have to fill out the rest of their team needs with their nine other picks later in the draft. Dallas still needs help at wide receiver, running back, and defensive line.
