FRISCO, Texas – Silly me. Should have known.
Should have known the Cowboys weren't going to select at the No. 12 pick in this 2025 NFL Draft a running back or a cornerback or a wide receiver or defensive end unless, well, if an Ashton Jeanty or maybe Tet McMillan had fallen into their laps. And the chances of that happening were slim and as turns out none.
They were going to draft an offensive lineman, a guard to be exact, despite my long-standing opposition to selecting a mere guard that high in the draft. Why, in the franchise's 64-year draft history, they had only selected two guards in the first round. The first, well, we must go back 60 drafts to 1966 when taking John Niland with the fifth overall pick, though the pickings among those 15 first rounders was pretty slim after the first four selections. Washington at No. 6, if you can believe this, selected Charlie Gogolak, a PUNTER of all things.
And the Cowboys did not select another first-round guard until Zack Martin at 16 in 2014. And even then, they had their eyes set on three defensive players, linebacker Anthony Barr, defensive lineman Aaron Donald and linebacker Ryan Shazier, who were all wiped off the board at Numbers 9, 13 and 15.
So they did this a third time at No. 12 on Thursday night. Picked them a guard, to be exact, and yet another guy up front named Tyler. This one Alabama's All-American Tyler Booker. By golly, the third first-round offensive lineman in four years, a facsimile of how then first-year head coach Jason Garrett (2011-19) began his program by drafting three offensive linemen in his first four drafts: Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and then Martin. Not to mention also signing rookie free agent La'el Collins in 2015, a sure first-round pick out of LSU if not for an unfortunate initial association with a former girlfriend's death he had nothing to do with.
The way the Cowboys had set their board for the franchise's 65th NFL Draft, Booker was a top seven or eight player, and since they did not have a higher ranked running back or wide receiver or defensive player available, the Cowboys merely played the best hand dealt them.
Grabbed but a guard in the first round … undeniably with both hands.
But we should have known. Should not have been blinded by the flashy offensive lights. Why, the new head coach, Brian Schottenheimer, had tipped his hand way back, probably by how he constructed his coaching staff becoming the first clue, along with right from the start talking about how he wants a "physical" team, both on the offensive and defensive lines to set his intended tone. This philosophy developed from so many years as an NFL offensive coordinator sporting a strong running game and being raised in a "Marty Ball" household, his late dad Marty Schottenheimer big on a strong running game, stout defense and special teams play during his head coaching days.
Then in Schotty's first move – and guess most everyone either calls him that or is easier to type out not having to buy four more vowels among eight more letters – he hires a well-respected offensive line coach, Klayton Adams, as his offensive coordinator. Then he hires the well-respected Kansas State offensive coordinator Conor Riley, who formed his coaching chops as a college offensive line coach, as his offensive line coach, along with retaining assistant offensive line coach Ramon Chingyoung. And come on, he retained tight ends coach Lunda Wells, a former offensive lineman and one-time O-Line assistant.
All not by accident.
As he told me that day in late February with his new staff members conducting interviews, when asked if this is an indication of wanting to improve this team's offensive line play to run the ball more efficiently, Schotty said, "I'd say that's accurate. I'd say you have to be able to run the football in this league."
And when followed up with if his hires were "intentional" toward that goal, knowing to do so there is a need for talented offensive line play, he said, "I think so."
Duh, Mick, you should have known better what was to come. Even did a column on how Schottenheimer wanted to run the ball and furthermore quoted Garrett on the importance of establishing a bullish offensive line, Jason saying, "I'm for guys who take the burden off running backs and quarterbacks, and offensive lines do that.
"A lot of that is (your) emphasis. How do we want to play? And then how do you build it? Where do you allocate resources? Are we willing to draft linemen? There is a thing in football that if I'm going to draft a guy, I'm going to draft a guy who can score points.
"But they aren't going to score points if you don't have consistent line play."
To me, what we talked about has become so profoundly prophetic.
"You can say, OK, here is how we want to play, but do we want to allocate a lot of resources with a lot of unsexy picks?" Jason continued. "It's a lot easier to pick a receiver, whoever it is, or a cover corner or a pass rusher, whatever. It's not real sexy to pick offensive linemen. But if you do, you've got to live it. I was fortunate to learn that a long time ago from great coaches, and that's what we tried to do.
"Certainly, how his dad built teams for years."
Well, now the son, and believe me, Schottenheimer was exuberantly behind this pick, campaigning in the war room that Booker was the way to go. Oh, the Cowboys did deliberate a bit, briefly considering a trade back to Houston at 25, but that was way too far to drop back, and the Texans didn't want to pay the Cowboys' asking price that likely would have included a 2026 first-round pick. They considered drafting the best defensive tackle on their board, Walter Nolen of Ole Miss.
But the Cowboys in that war room, those guys who already had performed a pre-draft mock that was nearly the same 11-pick scenario having played out Thursday night, with the consensus coming up Booker, couldn't take their eyes off the unsexy but necessary guard.
In fact, in a pre-draft meeting deliberating the skills of Booker, one scout called this Booker guy "an alpha," and knowing their O-Line alpha had just retired, a year after having lost the other leader of the pack, Tyron Smith, in free agency. Said Riley in his assessment of Booker, "He's not going in there to cover you up. He's going in there to mess you up."
And if the scouting reports and film study are accurate assessments, well, how many times would you be able to replace a Hall of Fame-bound guard with more than just a guy? How about a guy with walk-in starter Pro Bowl potential? And with a guy with high character and leadership qualities? Because in (OK, getting lazy) Schotty's mind, character matters.
"When you go in there, you look for starter-type players, and he's a starting-type guard," Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay said. "The other thing that's interesting, Coach mentioned Zack. Well, I went back and looked, and I was talking to Stephen [Jones]. Our grades are very similar to what we had to Zack. Some of the character traits. There are a lot of things that are very similar. He's his own individual, but he's a grown-ass man like Zack is.
"So you put someone in there that makes us a stronger, more physical team."
And then there was this consideration. The Cowboys understand the "physical" defensive interior players they must neutralize to allow the Dak Prescotts, the CeeDee Lambs, the Jake Fergusons and the running backs to be determined later (maybe as soon as Friday night) to become successful. Think about it. They did too. Philadelphia comes to town with the likes of Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter breathing fire in the middle of the Eagles defense. Then they must contend with the Giants' Dexter Lawrence and Rakeem Nunuz-Roches. And oh, the Commanders show up with Daron Payne and Jaron Kinlaw. That's like six games, a near third of your season.
And by the way, the Giants also selected one of the best, if not the best, defensive players in the draft Thursday night: defensive end Abdul Carter, the Micah Parsons starter kit.
"It was part of the commitment," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said of knowing the Cowboys were committed to making this a, uh, "Dak Friendly" offense. "As we found out, that doesn't help make him the highest paid player if he's not on the football field, so you have to protect him. And you have to have a plan or an offense that gives him some protection as you look ahead. All of that went into the thinking before we made the contract extensions with him. Not after. How are we going to handle this thing?
"Of course, Schotty, one of the reasons he's the head coach, he believes we run the ball a little bit more. He's going to believe in things that are a little bit more Dak-friendly in terms of how to operate. And a part of that is protection for Dak. All of that is part of it. You have to go from where you are, not where you wish you were. This is a pretty nice direct point to get to where we want to be, competition-wise. By going with the offensive lineman."
And so the Cowboys did. Some might say they didn't address a "need" in this first round. And sometimes you can't win. Because if the Cowboys reach to address a "need" they get criticized. Now that they've taken the BPA (best player available), it's just the opposite. Can't have it both ways.
And for real, and this includes me, too. If I had just read the tea leaves, the Cowboys actually did address a great big ol' "need."
Having to replace this 11-year luxury of playing with one of the best, if not the best offensive lineman in the NFL should have been the elephant in the room. Should not have been taken for granted, like, oh heck, we'll just plug someone in.
Even if he's just a guard.
