High hopes for 2nd-year defender are close to crashing down

As I have been working my way down the Dallas Cowboys depth chart and finding players that I have not touched on much, I ran into a guy that I did indeed speak about last year a few times.

Jay Toia, entering his second year with Dallas out of UCLA, once had high hopes to play meaningful full snaps on the defensive line and with how bad it was last year, you probably thought he’d have that chance.

Now, after revamping it, his hopes are starting to come crashing down.

He’s gonna fight Jay Toia for that last DT spot https://t.co/SYMcw1ylwb

— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) March 10, 2026

Little Results

It can be hard to get a read on players sometimes, and it seems like that is happening with Jay Toia.

Last year, Toia made the 53-man roster, but that was before Dallas acquired Kenny Clark in the Micah Parsons trade last August and gave up a haul for Quinnen Williams in November.

Even though Mazi Smith was included in the Williams trade and Perrion Winfrey missed most of the season with an injury, Toia still struggled for playing time, appearing in just five games.

If he did not do enough a year ago to get on the field, how do we think he will this year? I was a big fan of his, and still am, but the coaches know better than I do.

Osa Odighizuwa and Soloman Thomas got traded this offseason, but now Otito Ogbonnia and Jonathan Bullard sit above him. To add, they drafted LT Overton in the 4th round.

Let me give you a realistic run-down of how I think Toia can earn snaps this season if he makes the 53 for the second straight year.

He’s a limited player in a scheme that values versatility. While he can occupy blockers and hold up against the run, he offers next to nothing as a pass rusher.

I could see Toia becoming the backup if Kenny Clark plays as a true nose, but I have no idea how Christian Parker is going to make this thing work. Dallas will need a backup.

If that is the case, then Toia could earn a spot there, but by adding Ogbonnia, Overton, and Bullard, Toia is moving further back on the depth chart after he attempted to move up last year when the defense was the worst in football.

The younger brother of Cowboys DT Jay Toia is headed to UCLA https://t.co/jivQkpqpzr

— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) April 30, 2026

I was probably a little more high on him than most people were, and that is okay. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The issue with him is that he has one strength, and it is against the run.

Most times, to put a productive guy in this league, we all know that you have to dominate over one special thing, or a well-rounded player, and for him, it is just not working out for him and that is okay.

We will see how the rest of the summer goes, but I am thinking that he will have a hard time making the roster this season, and training camp and preseason into August might be the last time we see him on the depth chart.

On a side note, I really like the defensive line this season. They will struggle to have a dominant pass rusher, but at the end of the day, I would rather have a group that will do everything else well and not a guy who is going to have 20 sacks but the rest of the unit struggles.

As I noted, a lot of summer left to go, so we will see how this plays out, but a guy that I was high on last year is just not making enough strides like I thought he would.