It’s still July, and there is a long way yet to go in this 2025 NFL training camp. But for the Cowboys and the team’s offensive line–being rebuilt on the fly around young players–things are not off to a rousing start. That’s because rookie Tyler Booker, hailed as an immediate starter at guard after Dallas used the No. 14 overall pick on him, has already slipped back to the second string on the depth chart.
Over the weekend for the Cowboys out in Oxnard, California, Booker was practicing with the second string as he apparently lost his grip on the starting right guard spot to Robert Jones, the longtime Miami Dolphin who came to the Cowboys this offseason.
Cowboys Theme: Compete Every Day
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer was asked about the apparent demotion for Booker before Sunday’s practice, the team’s fifth of this camp. His answer certainly did not come down hard on Booker, but it did indicate that he is not winning the race to be a Day One starter.
“It was really compete every day. That’s the central theme of the program.” Schottenheimer said, via the Dallas Morning News. “Rob Jones has been doing some really, really good things. Tyler [Booker] is kind of hitting that mark where it was a little bit like, ‘Whoa, OK,’ doing some good things, but doing some things that weren’t to the standard.
“So what do you do? You make a change. Is it permanent? I don’t know.”
Tyler Booker Expected to Start When He Was Drafted
It’s not ideal, no doubt. The Cowboys came into the season with a very young offensive line around two veterans, Terence Steele and Tyler Smith. Center Cooper Beebe and Tyler Guyton are second-year players, and Guyton was last year’s first-round pick, who struggled to stay healthy and was not great when he was on the field.
Guyton received a Pro Football Focus grade of 49.4 last season, which was 73rd out of 81 guards.
The ever-affable Booker did put a positive spin on the situation.
“It was just another opportunity for me to play football and another opportunity for me to get better,” Booker said. “Just competition brings excellence. Rob has been playing really well.”
Cowboys Got Robert Jones on a Bargain
Jones is in his fifth season in the NFL, and signed with the Cowboys on a one-year, $3.65 million contract after the Dolphins declined to bring him back in free agency. He started 17 games for Miami last year after latching on with the team as an undrafted free agent back in 2021.
Booker said the demotion is a sign that he has a lot yet to learn.
“You have to approach every day, every level, with a white-belt mentality,” Booker said. “That means you’re at the lowest level and you have to understand that there’s so much more for you to learn. And I feel like no matter what, if I’m in Year 1 or, Lord willing, Year 10, that I’m always going to have that mentality.”
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