When it comes to playing defensive line, there are some things that can be taught, like learning to rush the passer, and some things that just cannot.
For interior defensive linemen, that means playing against the run. You either got it or you don’t.
Dallas Cowboys rookie defensive tackle Jay Toia, a seventh round pick (No. 217 overall) in the 2025 NFL draft, already has it. ESPN’s Field Yates praised the 6-foot-2, 342-pound Toia for that unique, valuable quality after the Cowboys took him in the final round of the draft.
“After adding the best run blocker in the class early in Alabama’s Tyler Booker, the Cowboys selected one of the best run defenders late in Toia,” Yates wrote on April 29. “He anchored UCLA’s run defense, which gave up only 2.7 yards per attempt in 2023 (second best in the FBS). With great size, power and violent hands, Toia makes life easier for linebackers against the run. But he will be a minimal factor on passing downs.”
Toia could be one of the building blocks to the Cowboys’ defensive front added in the draft alongside Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku, a second round pick (No. 44 overall) who was projected as a first round pick headed into the draft.
Toia Made Rare Transfer Between Rival Schools
Toia starred at Grace Bethren High School in Simi Valley, California, and was an early enrollee at USC but transferred to crosstown rival UCLA in the summer before his freshman year.
In 4 seasons at UCLA, Toia became a 3-year starter and finished his career with 90 tackles, 9 TFL and 3.0 sacks and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2024. Toia briefly entered the transfer portal before his final season but ultimately decided to return to UCLA.
Toia comes from a football family. His older brother, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Siaka Iki, played at LSU and Baylor and was a third round pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2023. His younger brother, Soane Toia, is a defensive tackle at San Jose State.
“Three-year starter with the build and mentality to play nose tackle in odd or even fronts,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote. “Toia carries a girthy base and is heavy into first contact. He has the power to give good resistance against all forms of blocks that come his way … he’ll need to improve his block recognition and fine-tune his take-on to be his best version of a two-down run defender.”
Breaking Down Cowboys’ Depth on Defensive Front
Toia will be playing alongside another former Bruin with Cowboys’ defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who has started every game for Dallas the last 3 seasons and become a formidable presence on the defensive front.
From DallasCowboys.com’s Patrik Walker: “It was a foregone conclusion the Dallas Cowboys would presumably use at least one of the many picks in the 2025 NFL Draft on the defensive tackle position, flipping the seventh-round pick they received from the New England Patriots (211th-overall) to throw a very big body in the mix along with Mazi Smith, Solomon Thomas and Osa Odighizuwa.”
