School: Alabama
Year: Jr
Position: IOL
Positional Flexibility: Guard (all experience at left guard)

Physical Attributes

• Height: 6-5
• Weight: 325
• RAS: 3.93
• Bench Press: 21

Rankings

• Joe’s Ranking: 6.5
• Consensus Position Rank: 1
• My Position Ranking: 4
• Difference in Ranking: -3
• Tier: 3
• Projected Round: 3

Games Watched

• South Carolina ’24
• Georgia ’24

Ryan’s Notes

Positives

• Booker isn’t passive in pass protection and he looks to win the contact battle rather than survive it which is a good trait if done well.
• His foot speed is impressive and he pairs it well with his advanced awareness to have great range in pass pro.
• His anchor is solid, he buffers the impact with his chest and meets it with a straight back which is positive but not sure how sustainable this is.
• Called out a blitz with a clever hand signal to his QB and picked up both the blitzer and the stunt on his own which was impressive.
• Whilst his technique isn’t clean he gets his weight onto multiple rushers when they’re trying to squeeze gaps open, this dirtying of pass rush concepts is a nice trait to see.
• Booker has a decent pad level and it shows his experience in comparison to the rest of this class who are mostly converts.

Negatives

• Balance control is poor and often finds himself stumbling when looking for work and he actually left his feet trying to bury a 2t and completely missed any target.
• His weight is very much on his toes and he basically falls forward when pursuing moving targets. I like to see positive and aggressive search blocks but it felt like he was going to fall over whenever he didn’t find contact.
• The bones of a good guard are there but for someone who was part of a Bama program that crossed over with Saban, I’d have expected cleaner tape.
• He chooses to lean on blocks rather than jam them open and drive which worries me and this base technique reminds me too much of former early round pick busts for me to ignore.
• Technical ability is everything for this position yet his technical bag isn’t very deep and he’s more of a run and hit type.
• Rarely ever saw him on the move but when he did, it was a very plodding effort and he was lucky if he cleared the center by the time the ball was handed off. Not an athlete at all.

Ryan’s Summary

Booker has some tools you look for in Guards as he is quick to move between targets and he punishes in pass protection choosing to win early rather than he reactive however I can’t get on board with a guard who looks out of control on run blocks and is almost falling forward, his body weight is in front of his toes and when it’s combined with his poor knee bend it gives me all sorts of red flags especially being from an elite program.