Over the last ten years, only three guards have been selected higher than Tyler Booker in the NFL Draft. So, naturally, selecting the former Alabama product 12th overall did not come without its critics.
Fans wanted a flashy pick in the first round, and the front office denied them in favor of one of the lowest valued positions in the entire sport.
When you make that kind of choice, you had better hit on it.
They just aren’t very good at this anymore tbh.
I like Tyler Booker. I do. But you don’t draft a guard only at 12th overall when you have zero weapons on offense outside of CeeDee Lamb.
— Connor Livesay (@ConnorNFLDraft) April 25, 2025
Missing on a quarterback, wide receiver, etc., high in the draft is understandable; you were swinging for the fences at the most important positions. Missing on a guard in the top 12 is rarely seen in the same light.
In short, Tyler Booker has a ton of pressure on his shoulders this season and in the future. If he doesn’t at least meet the expectations set by previous top-12 guards, the pick will be lambasted.
To gauge what those expectations are, let’s examine the three guards who preceded Booker and what they brought to the table early on.
2023 NFL Draft: Peter Skoronski, 11th Overall, Tennessee Titans
Tyler Booker broke a shorter streak than normal in this regard, as the Titans selected former Northwestern guard Peter Skoronski 11th overall just two years ago. When that pick was made, it had been five years since the last top-12 guard.
Skoronski came into the league as a tackle in college with fairly high expectations, as Tennessee passed on various future Pro Bowlers to snag him.
Unlike Booker, he did not enter the league with a position set in concrete.
Dallas is, without a question of a doubt, starting Booker at right guard. The Titans shifted Skoronski from tackle to guard, and eventually settled on the left guard spot as his domain.
Peter Skoronski over the last 8 Games of the 2024 season:
-2 Sacks Allowed
-7 Quarterback Pressures Allowed
-79.475 Pass-Blocking Grade
-314 Pass-Blocking SnapsExpectations for the #Titans Left Guard in 2025? #TitanUp pic.twitter.com/sX8SFzit6h
— SharmSports (@SharmSports) July 8, 2025
How has it worked out? Well, when Jahmyr Gibbs is the pick right after you, it’s tough to combat the “bad pick” allegations, but that may not be fair.
While Peter Skoronski hasn’t been named to a Pro Bowl or All-Pro team, he has quietly been a stabilizing force in Tennessee with the potential to truly blossom in 2025. If that were Booker’s story, most would be disappointed, but stability is needed in Dallas.
2018 NFL Draft: Quenton Nelson, 6th Overall, Indianapolis Colts
In a perfect world, Tyler Booker follows the exact same career path as former top-6 pick Quenton Nelson.
The 2018 NFL Draft was headlined by Baker Mayfield and Saquon Barkley, but Nelson was the true top player in the class. He was clearly a generational prospect coming out of Notre Dame, and the Colts acted on that.
In the seven seasons since, Nelson has become a 7x Pro Bowler and 5x All-Pro. He is the anchor of the Colts’ offense and the best guard in the entire league.
This is where it’s good to offer some caution when it comes to Booker; it is simply unrealistic to hold him to this standard, and we cannot start to doubt him solely if he isn’t replicating Nelson-level success.
There is always a happy medium, and to this point, a better start than Skoronski and a bit below Nelson’s is that place.
2015 NFL Draft: Brandon Scherff, 5th Overall, Washington Redskins
Now, when I say the history is on Booker’s side, this is why.
In the last decade, there has not been a single top-12 guard who has gone on to become a “bust.” Even Skoronski has a clear place in the Titans’ future and an upward trajectory in general.
Brandon Scherff, the 5th pick in the 2015 draft, has played in the NFL for ten seasons as a member of both the Redskins and the Washington Football Team, as well as in Jacksonville.
https://twitter.com/The33rdTeamFB/status/1936068679730389231
The former Iowa Hawkeye was one of a few bright spots during that time for Washington, as he was named to five Pro Bowls and became an All-Pro in 2020.
He, like the guards that would come after him, was highly touted as a draft prospect for his immediate impact ability. Tyler Booker shares this trait, and it is what will propel him towards a career that mirrors these guys.
As long as he works hard and is coached well, this hot streak of top-12 guards will continue once again.
The reason no high drafted guard has been a ‘bust’ is that guard is a ‘good enough’ position on the team so no one gets called a bust there. When you bust as a tackle, they make you a guard. That is why you do not use the #12 on a guard.And, Booker is not a high rated athlete so he has to show he can move from his left side college positon to the right side which is not certain for such a poor athlete. Overall, Booker was a wasted #12 pick . Of course he will start at guard –with cares?
I have no worries about Booker, despite what the other comment says, it don’t matter how athletic a player is!! Their athletic score and their play in games are totally different!! There have been plenty of players get drafted late because they didn’t test well in the athletic test, but then they turn into great players!! Booker has shown he can be dominant while playing football, and that’s why he was drafted so high!! Booker dominated the best DTs in college and that includes DTs like Phillys DT Jalen Carter!! And we all know how good Jalen Carter is!! So if Booker is good enough to dominate a player like Carter even though it was when Booker was a younger and Carter was about to be drafted, then Booker shouldn’t have any problems doing it in the NFL, especially now that he has even more experience than he did when he was dominating Carter in college!! And that’s why he was drafted that high!! And we all know the track record this front office has with drafting offensive linemen!! A lot of people complained about drafting Tyler Smith in the 1st round too, and if I’m not mistaken, this Siempre guy was one that complained about it and we see how Tyler Smith turned out!! So knowing all of that excluding the stupid comments by Siempre, I don’t think we have anything to worry about!! This front office has proven everybody wrong plenty of times, especially when it comes to offensive linemen!! And I don’t think this time will be any different!!
And one more thing I wanted to address…. It’s about the stupid comment Siempre said!! He said that guard is a good enough position!! And no guard is called a bust, and when you bust as a tackle, they move you to guard!! That whole comment is just ridiculous!! If any player could be put in at guard because it’s a “good enough” position, then anybody would play the position!! But not just anybody can be put in at guard!! There have been plenty of players that didn’t make it in the NFL because they wasn’t good enough to play guard!! And I’m not really sure where he came up with that stupid idea, but guard is just as important as the tackle position, if not more important!! The guards have to block the biggest and strongest players on the defense, and they have to move the biggest and strongest players on the defense to open up run lanes in the middle of the field!! They don’t get lucky enough to block little guys that weigh 240 to 280 pounds, they have to block the big guys that weigh 300 to 360 pounds!! So how is that a good enough position!? Apparently the guy that said that don’t know how football works or just don’t know anything about it at all, cause that was one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever seen!! But anyways I’ll stop here!! Just thought I’d say what I thought about drafting Booker and then talk a little bit about that stupid comment Siempre made!!