When the Dallas Cowboys held the No. 12 pick in this past April’s NFL Draft, they acknowledged they didn’t want to draft that high again — implying a weak season from 2024 doesn’t want to be repeated — but they did want to take advantage of the opportunity.
With that selection, the Cowboys brought in Alabama guard Tyler Booker who has consistently drawn praise since he walked through the doors of The Star in Frisco less than 24 hours after being drafted.
Fast forward to a little more than four months since hearing his name called, Booker took the field last Thursday night against the Eagles for his NFL debut as the starting right guard on the offensive line.
While it was far from his best showing, in his own words, there were still positives to take away from his debut that saw him allow only two quarterback pressures.
“I feel like I have a lot of room for improvement,” Booker said. “I have a lot that I need to get better at. I’m not going to sit here and say that it was my worst performance ever. But at the same time, to be where I want to be and who I want to be, I have to play a lot better than I did on Thursday.”
In his introductory press conference, Booker said that the player he was most looking forward to going up against was Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter. Booker, of course, didn’t get that opportunity in the opener after Carter was ejected before the first play for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
While the case could be made that the Eagles lost their best defensive player for the night in that incident, it didn’t change much for Booker who felt that the offensive line was going to play efficiently anyway.
“I felt that way regardless of the situation,” Booker said. “I was a firm believer in our ability to play effectively…I was just focused on the first play of the game. I was focused on controlling the controllables.”
Booker worked his whole life to get to last Thursday night, his NFL debut. The lead up, the anticipation, the adrenaline — it all vanishes in the span of a four-hour game. But for him, he’s quickly onto the next task on the agenda: the New York Giants.
“Something I learned at Alabama, you have to treat every week like a one-week season,” Booker said. “I’m already onto the next season, so to say. Every week is of the upmost importance to me like it’s a Super Bowl. That’s how I approach every game. I’ll treat the Giants like that, like they’re the last game for the rest of the year.”
In his first two NFL games, Booker is getting an accurate taste of what life is like in the trenches playing in the NFC East. With talented defensive fronts in both Philadelphia and New York, it’s providing Booker with the level of competition he wants.
“It’s very competitive,” he said. “I love being in competitive environments, that’s why I played in the SEC. That’s why I decided to go to Alabama, because of the competition and the tier of athletes that I’ll see week in and week out. I’m very excited to be in this division.”