2025 NFL Draft - 7th Round Pick - Jay Toia, DT, UCLA

This is the pick that really tied it together for me.

Great value at arguably our biggest position of need, given that our 1T depth chart was Mazi and maybe Justin Rogers?

I really think he could be a rotational 15-20 snap per game guy right out of the gate and I wouldn't be shocked if he displaced Mazi at some point either this year or next.
 
We did manage to get value in the late stages of the draft, mining deep talent at DT and RB who’d show the promise of 4th rounders in other drafts.

The pick that breaks it is James. He’s the unexpected Loofah of this draft
 
Simpleton said:
I really think he could be a rotational 15-20 snap per game guy right out of the gate and I wouldn't be shocked if he displaced Mazi at some point either this year or next.
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Wouldn't break my heart if he displaced Mazi during training camp.
 
ravidubey said:
Would our team allow this to happen?

They might stealth bench him by granting more snaps like they did for Marion Barber over Julius Jones
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Schotty's got no tie to him, off you go!
 
ravidubey said:
We did manage to get value in the late stages of the draft, mining deep talent at DT and RB who’d show the promise of 4th rounders in other drafts.

The pick that breaks it is James. He’s the unexpected Loofah of this draft
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Yeah but particularly this draft, I hated the LBers. I would have just passed on the position all together. But unlike WR and RB, we always take a LBer. Just something we do. Probably because you keep 6 on your roster despite really only playing 2 most of the time. So you just keep drafting these guys, they play special teams and you do it year after year.

They liked James the most at that point in the draft. Ok, that's fine. But there wasn't a LBer in this draft I would have been happy about outside of like 3 names.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
Yeah but particularly this draft, I hated the LBers. I would have just passed on the position all together. But unlike WR and RB, we always take a LBer. Just something we do. Probably because you keep 6 on your roster despite really only playing 2 most of the time. So you just keep drafting these guys, they play special teams and you do it year after year.

They liked James the most at that point in the draft. Ok, that's fine. But there wasn't a LBer in this draft I would have been happy about outside of like 3 names.
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I was the same for WR, where it’s clear we’d be overpaying

Re: James… why fing panic and dump another 6th rounder to get him when they’d likely have him at their normal spot in the 5th.

Unnecessary, though maybe they felt another team closing in.

Bottom line, this guy had better make an impact at some point

If I’m going to overpay, then I don’t mind if it’s a guard who’s a true first round talent who’ll contribute for the next decade— maybe longer
 
ravidubey said:
Unnecessary, though maybe they felt another team closing in.

Bottom line, this guy had better make an impact at some point
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I don't know. 4 LBers went in the fifth round after we took him. Can't remember where the pick was originally but yeah, they clearly felt a LBer run coming. Or they just liked James more than the LBers who eventually went.

I would have preferred to keep the extra pick. Or have traded up for a different player. But clearly Eberflus or the LBer coach really liked James. I guess I'm ok with that in the fifth round. But I didn't really view it that way.

Had we gone up for Tory Horton? I would have been thrilled. And it sucks how tied we are to Mingo for this season. Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if Flournoy, Brooks and Tolbert were all better than him but we will refuse to move on because he was our fourth round pick.

And then next offseason he will disappear.
 
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boozeman said:
Not a damn one of us prioritized this guy. I sure didn’t.

West coast games have never been a watch for me, but we have tapped into that.

The more you watch of this big boy, the more you like.
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He doesn't really even look that fat. He's just a big ol' dude.
 
The biggest thing I noticed is he times the snap really well, almost to the point that I think he's going to get called for some offsides early on.

It won't take him a year to figure out how to get off the ball like Mazi.
 
Simpleton said:
The biggest thing I noticed is he times the snap really well, almost to the point that I think he's going to get called for some offsides early on.

It won't take him a year to figure out how to get off the ball like Mazi.
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No he gets right up on the line of scrimmage and obviously tries to be one of the first guys moving on defense on every play. Total opposite of what Michigan trained Mazi to do.

I like the player but I didn't really study him. In my defense there was a shit load of DTs drafted and it was a stupid talented DT draft. I knew of him but hadn't paid much attention besides he is another NT prospect who is big and strong. But I think he is better than the Ridgeways of the past.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
No he gets right up on the line of scrimmage and obviously tries to be one of the first guys moving on defense on every play.
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Dude, that's like, crazy talk. Whoever heard of that before?
 
Chocolate Lab said:
Dude, that's like, crazy talk. Whoever heard of that before?
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Yeah, basically what every highschool football coach teaches. And Michigan has since changed their style. But they definitely had a weird read and react thing they wanted their guys to do on the Dline.
 
boozeman said:
Not a damn one of us prioritized this guy. I sure didn’t.

West coast games have never been a watch for me, but we have tapped into that.

The more you watch of this big boy, the more you like.
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2025 NFL Draft Chatter

Good stuff there. Kind of the PG version of the McGinn series. I've always wondered how closely these scouts are evaluated. You'd think it would be very seriously, but it isn't here. Look at how long some of these scouts have been here. Of course we don't know how often they're right and...
www.dallascowboyscentral.com www.dallascowboyscentral.com
 
I don't think I realized how good UCLA's run defense was. It never hurts to pluck the best run defender off one of the best run defenses in college football. And they played in the Big 10, so it's not like they played against teams that don't want to run the ball.

Jay Toia, DT, Dallas Cowboys (No. 217)

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. 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.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
I don't think I realized how good UCLA's run defense was. It never hurts to pluck the best run defender off one of the best run defenses in college football. And they played in the Big 10, so it's not like they played against teams that don't want to run the ball.

Jay Toia, DT, Dallas Cowboys (No. 217)

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. 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.
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They were 15th last year, but that's still elite considering they aren't one of the best teams generally.

I loved the pick in the first place but the fact that they had back to back elite run defenses with him as the NT makes me even more confident. If he can come in and give you a solid 15ish snaps a game our defense is going to be quietly very solid.

We're deep at edge, 3T, LB and safety, the only question marks are health at CB and what we're going to get from Mazi/Toia/Rogers at 1T.

If Mazi can take another baby step forward and this guy can rotate in we're going to be in business.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
I don't think I realized how good UCLA's run defense was. It never hurts to pluck the best run defender off one of the best run defenses in college football. And they played in the Big 10, so it's not like they played against teams that don't want to run the ball.

Jay Toia, DT, Dallas Cowboys (No. 217)

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. 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.
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Playing in front of Schwesinger.
 
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