As there is with anything ‘America’s Team’ does, a ton of speculation was thrown on who the Dallas Cowboys would select with their first-round pick on Thursday. While many more exciting theories were put forth, Dallas ended up playing it safe, selecting Alabama guard Tyler Booker No. 12 overall in Green Bay. Booker was a First-Team All-American last year and earned First-Team All-SEC honors in both 2023 and 2024.
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Funny enough, he will join an offensive line that already has two players named Tyler in starting positions: left tackle Tyler Guyton and left guard Tyler Smith. The latter will likely force Booker from his more familiar spot at left guard to right guard. Booker played 167 snaps at right guard as a freshman, but otherwise stayed to the left side of the line for the rest of his collegiate career. But was this really a safe move, or was the Cowboys repeating a previous mistake?
The move from left to right guard is no guarantee, but FS1’s Emmanuel Acho was more bothered by the decision to choose a guard rather than which guard they chose. He acknowledged that Booker was a great player, but he argued that they made a mistake that they’d already made on a few draft days about 10 years ago.
“We’ve seen this story with the Cowboys before, and it didn’t work. Remember, the Cowboys drafted three, I would suggest, Ring of Honor players in four years. You had Zach Martin, Travis Frederick, and Tyron Smith. And you won nothing! We’ve seen this story before. So now, the last three years, you get Tyler Smith, Tyler Guyton, and Tyler Booker. Why would you do the exact same thing you did a decade ago, and expect it to work again?”
.@EmmanuelAcho was left frustrated after the Cowboys picked Tyler Booker with their 1st pick: pic.twitter.com/DCW8D1dw3p
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) April 25, 2025
Acho went on to parrot the quote, “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, that’s the definition of insanity.” He does make a good point that the Cowboys did not win anything with that previous elite offensive line—they didn’t even make an NFC Championship. However, the blame for coming up short all those years in the 2010s can hardly be placed at the feet of arguably their three best players during that era.
Dallas didn’t lose playoff games because of Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, or Zach Martin. And as we saw with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles last year, winning teams are built through the trenches. So why not spend top picks to upgrade those positions?
As a self-proclaimed Cowboys fan, it’s likely that Acho was simply disappointed because he was hoping for more of a splash pick like a wideout or running back. As long as Booker can make the transition from left to right guard, however, this will go down as an excellent move. The Alabama product is expected to come in and start right away.
The 2025 NFL Draft rolls on Friday night with Rounds 2 and 3. Rounds 4-7 follow on Saturday. Dallas has both their second (No. 44 overall) and third (No. 76) round picks for Friday night. They have a huge haul on the third day too, with two-fifths, two-sixths, and three seventh-rounders to play with.
