The 2025 NFL Draft is winding to a close and the Dallas Cowboys have addressed most of their needs with just two picks remaining.
After the selection of Texas running back Jaydon Blue in the fifth round, wide receiver and defensive tackle were the only remaining needs. At this point, it is fair to assume Dallas’ next new receiver will come through a trade or free agency.
Cowboys fans have waited patiently for the team to add some beef to the defensive trenches. Well, that patience has paid off as Dallas has selected UCLA behemoth Jay Toia with the first pick of the seventh round.
While Toia will have his work cut out to carve out a prominent role on Matt Eberflus’ defense, this feels like a clear message to former first-round pick Mazi Smith.
Cowboys’ Jay Toia pick should send a clear message to Mazi Smith
The Cowboys would have liked to address defensive tackle before the seventh round, but they allowed the board to fall to them and have reaped the benefits. In fact, Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen was considered at No. 12 overall before Dallas took Tyler Booker.
Osa Odighizuwa is one of the best interior pass-rushers in the league, but Smith has not lived up to his first-round billing at the one-tech position. While Smith has stacked some good games here and there, the consistency has largely been non-existent.
Simply put, Dallas badly needed another run stuffer and Toia checks that box with room to spare, which is ironic because the former UCLA Bruin is a mountain of a man at 6-3 and 341 pounds. He doesn’t have the stats to back it up, but this is a player that loves to do the dirty work that frees up edge rushers and linebackers to make plays.
With the right coaching, Toia can develop into an adequate nose tackle. Between Eberflus and new defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, Toia is in great hands.
That officially puts Smith on the clock.
