The Cowboys are turning their eyes toward rookie defensive tackle Jay Toia—a powerful, disruptive 1-tech out of UCLA, with Mazi Smith battling injury and falling massively short of expectations throughout his first two seasons.
Toia, who flew under the radar in national draft discussions, now has a chance to seize a starting role on a Cowboys defensive line that desperately needs help in the middle.
Based on his college film, statistical output, and physical traits, Toia may be the upgrade the Cowboys need at the nose.
Why 1-Tech is a Problem for Dallas
In 2024, the Cowboys ranked 29th in run defense, allowing a concerning 137.1 rushing yards per game and giving up 25 rushing touchdowns.
Much of that came from inconsistent play at the interior tackle spots—especially from Mazi Smith, the team’s 2023 first-round pick.
Smith struggled with leverage, hand placement, and maintaining gap discipline. He frequently lost ground against double teams and did not flash the power or burst the Cowboys expected when they drafted him as a potential anchor in the middle.
To make matters worse, Smith’s injuries have compounded his underperformance.
With his availability uncertain, the Cowboys may be ready to hand the keys to Jay Toia, who played over 1,600 snaps at UCLA and comes in with a proven record of stout run defense and raw physicality.
Jay Toia’s College Production at a Glance
Let’s break down Toia’s four-year body of work at UCLA:
- 1,607 total snaps
- 70.0 run defense in 2024 (best of career)
- 19 total pressures, including two sacks
- 48 stops (defined as tackles that constitute a failure for the offense)
- 14 QB hurries and 5 QB hits in 2024 alone
These numbers show clear growth each year, culminating in his breakout 2024 campaign.
Most notably, Toia lined up in the A-gap (true 1-tech or nose tackle) on 434 of his 591 total defensive line snaps in 2024—proof of his experience playing exactly where Dallas now needs help.
What Toia Brings to the Cowboys’ Defensive Front
1. True Anchor Ability at Nose
Jay Toia’s strength lies in his ability to absorb double teams and prevent interior movement.
His 2024 film shows him consistently controlling blockers, allowing linebackers to flow freely and plug gaps. That’s a vital quality for the Cowboys, whose linebacker unit struggled in part because of being swallowed up by unblocked linemen.
Cowboys rookie DT Jay Toia slidin on opps cause they not big enough pic.twitter.com/Tr7qZuaqEE
— Voch Lombardi (@VochLombardi) May 2, 2025
2. Gap Discipline and Stoutness
Toia’s 16 run stops in 2022 and 2024 reflect a player who knows how to anchor and maintain leverage. He’s not overly flashy, but he’s effective at holding his ground.
His technique improved steadily over time, particularly in shedding blocks and resetting the line of scrimmage.
3. Underrated Pass Rush Upside
Though not a primary pass rusher, Toia’s 14 hurries in 2024 show he can collapse the pocket from the middle. He times his punch well and uses his hands effectively to disengage.
For comparison, Mazi Smith has struggled to generate meaningful pass-rush pressure in either of his first two years.
USC freshman DL Jay Toia with the bull rush.@JayToia_102 strikes with violence hat/hands & leverage. Takes his blocker for a ride. Keep it simple, keep it violent! #passrush #fighton
via @dlcoached pic.twitter.com/wW7wbYsTDw
— DLineVids (@dlinevids1) April 9, 2021
4. Motor and Durability
Toia played a career-high 646 snaps in 2024, showing he can handle a full workload. That’s key for a team like Dallas, which has dealt with injuries and rotational inconsistency across its defensive front.
Why Toia Fits DC Matt Eberflus’ Vision
New defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus thrives on speed, discipline, and front-line penetration.
While Jay Toia won’t wow anyone with elite athleticism, his ability to control the A-gap, maintain gap integrity, and flash power fits the blueprint Eberflus seeks for 1-tech.
In contrast, Mazi Smith’s inconsistent technique and injury woes have limited his ability to serve in that stabilizing role.
If the Cowboys want to improve their 32nd-ranked red zone defense and 29th-ranked run defense, inserting a more technically sound and power-based presence like Toia at the point of attack could be essential.
Rookie Outlook for 2025
If training camp performances continue to trend in Toia’s favor and Mazi Smith either can’t stay healthy or fails to progress, the rookie has a real shot at earning the starting job.
At the very least, expect Toia to be part of the rotation early in the season.
With a defensive tackle room that lacks a dominant 1-tech presence, Toia may quickly go from depth piece to full-time starter—especially if he continues to build on the growth shown during his senior season at UCLA.
Low-Profile Rookie
Jay Toia may not have been a high-profile draft pick. Still, his college production, position-specific experience, and steady development make him a compelling option to start at 1-tech for the Dallas Cowboys.
With Mazi Smith underwhelming and the run defense in need of reinforcements, Toia could become one of the most important rookie contributors on the team in 2025.
He’s not just filling a role—he’s offering a solution.
Hopefully, Toia is the real deal, otherwise they may still have a big problem at stopping the run. The issue with showing these videos is they also most likely had great videos of Mazi before he got drafted. So, one can’t necessarily put too much credence in them. That said, his stats are moving in the right direction, so that’s a plus.
Bottomline, unless they get lucky (and I hope they do) with this seventh rounder, the criticism for waiting that long to try and fix a long term problem should be considered warranted and shows more incompetence in the Cowboy FO.
My guess is Jones overruled McCay to draft Mazi in the late first round of 2023. You think the Taco Charlton first round pick was a painful lesson! Hard headed Jones.
That was a team decision…. Everybody chose to pick Mazi!! And Mazi would be a really good player if it wasn’t for him going through all the stuff he’s gone through!! He’s going into his 3rd year and is learning from his 3rd defensive coordinator!! That’s bad enough!! But not only that but that idiot Dan Quinn thought it would be a good idea to make Mazi lose a bunch of weight and play a different style that he’s never played before, and then Mike Zimmer came in and made Mazi gain all that weight back and play his usual style and it worked, and he started to show it in week 10 through the end of the season!! And then Matt Eberflus comes in this year and thinks like Dan Quinn and thought it was a good idea to make Mazi lose a bunch of weight yet again!! That’s not good for a player!! There’s no player in the NFL that has ever gone through that much change!! And if somebody ever has, they sure didn’t play like they should have!! That’s the problem with Mazi!! It’s not that he’s not any good, it’s that he’s going through too much change every year!! He hasn’t got to play at the same weight or with the same defensive coordinator since he was drafted!! No player will ever be good after going through that much!! These defensive coordinators just need to stop messing with him and let him keep the weight he had when he was drafted, so he can play the way he did in college!! It don’t make any sense to keep changing Mazi like that, but they keep Jay Toia at his normal weight!! Mazi is supposed to be the better player…. He was definitely the better prospect, so why keep changing him!? Let him play the way he did in college at the same weight for a couple years in a row and I guarantee he’ll be the player he was meant to be!!
You had me till the end, FO has been trying to fix the problem since the rams ran for 250yrds on us in the playoffs yrs ago, through free agency, trade, and multiple draft picks. Hell they even changed def schemes to help the run inefficiencies. The players just didn’t pan out really, other than the Joseph trade which was short lived
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s with Jerry Jones as the Cowboys owner and G.M. their is nothing or player that can save the Cowboys unless Jerry Jones sell the Cowboys
You need to read the replies people leave on your stupid comments!! You seriously don’t know anything!! Again, Jerry has 3 rings on his hand, so how is it they won’t win anything as long as he’s owner and GM when they already won 3 while Jerry has been owner and GM!? Like I said, your comments are stupid!! And the team hasn’t won another Super Bowl in so long because Stephen took over more control of the team after the 3rd Super Bowl win!! Having him take more control over the team after the 3rd Super Bowl should make it obvious that he is the problem, and not Jerry!! But again, from the sounds of your comments, you don’t seem to be too smart anyways!! And that’s why you need to read the replies to your comments, so you can learn something!!
I’m curious how Tommy Akingabote is performing at the one technique?
Ok, people, let’s pump the brakes.
First, name ANY defensive tackle not named Warren Sapp that had huge impact in their first two years. Then factor in all of the defensive coordinator changes that have happened during his two years and now a third one in year three. Most defensive tackles show impact at year three with no change to leadership, so expecting him to be perfect with all of the changes is incredibly unrealistic.
Second, I noticed a comment about Jerry Jones having three Super Bowl rings as the owner and GM. Name which of those rings came from a team not built by Jimmy Johnson. Jerry Jones has made epic mistakes as a GM and then repeated them early, and often. I prime example is the Tony Romo contracts, followed by the mishandling of Dak Prescott contracts, followed by the Cee Dee Lamb contract mishandling, and now the Micah Parsons contract mishandling. He is a piss poor GM at best. He thinks he knows everything and he clearly doesn’t know about signing talent before the market is redefined by other signings. All the whole bitching about not having the capital to keep doing it and keep talents.
Third, Stephen Jones is essentially running the team, and Jerry claims he will turn it over after another ring, we all know it is a lie, but he keeps saying it. Jerry Jones is the cancer that keeps debilitating this team. It is time to hire a real GM and tell Jerry Jones to retire.