Cole Cubelic claims Tyler Booker should have been up for 2024 Heisman Trophy

The 2024 Heisman Trophy race was among the more iconic ones in recent memory, with a 2,600-yards rusher in Ashton Jeanty falling short behind two-way phenomenon Travis Hunter. Still, at least one analyst at ESPN, Cole Cubelic, believes Alabama Crimson Tide offensive lineman Tyler Booker should also have had his hat thrown in the ring.

Tyler Booker came up during coverage of SEC Media Days. Cubelic was praising Parker Brailsford, a current offensive lineman, and crediting his growth. Part of that growth could and should be attributed to Booker, who Cubelic believes was phenomenal last season.

“Parker Brailsford, the transfer from Washington who was on the Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line there,” Cole Cubelic said. “He took everything Tyler Booker does and put it into his game last year in Tuscaloosa… Now, last year, that would’ve been a tough conversation, but going into this season, I think, right now, he [Brailsford] is the best offensive lineman in the SEC. He’s got quickness to beat you laterally. He added that power and tenacity, and like I said, we asked yesterday, Kalen DeBoer, because Kalen saw him at Washington, I said, ‘How much Booker did he put in his game?’ He said, ‘Book affected all of our guys.’ That’s how good Tyler Booker is. I think Tyler Booker should’ve been up for the Heisman last year. That’s how good of a football player he was.”

Offensive linemen are almost never considered for an award like the Heisman Trophy. Players who touch the ball and put up big statistical seasons on winning teams are the typical winners. Still, Cole Cubelic firmly believes that the most astounding designation should matter, and Tyler Booker arguably fits the bill.

In his own right, Booker would be made an All-American and since became a first round NFL Draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys. So, while it’s not the Heisman Trophy, he’s earned plenty of honors himself.

Cubelic would also go back and clarify. He doesn’t necessarily believe that Tyler Booker should have won. Instead, he believes that he and other linemen in the past have deserved some more recognition. He’d add, “We’ve got to get fat guys some votes.”

Perhaps Parker Brailsford can become the offensive lineman who earns those votes, after being mentored by Tyler Booker. Certainly, Cole Cubelic is excited about what he’s capable of doing in 2025.

“He [Brailsford] took that tenacity and that ability to finish. Put it in his game,” Cubelic said. “Right now, I think Parker Brailsford would be my number one offensive lineman. It has nothing to do with the draft, by the way. I’m not trying to be Mel Kiper up here. I think right now with what he does and what he’s asked to do, and everybody else, Brailsford number one.”

Alabama will take the field for the first time in 2025 with a road trip to Florida State. They’ll later begin SEC play with a road test against Georgia on September 27th. Along the way, they’ll need to lean on that offensive line.