(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – SEPTEMBER 23: Jay Toia #93 of the UCLA Bruins reacts as he walks off the field after their loss to the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium on September 23, 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
It has turned out to be a pretty good week for the Dallas Cowboys to have a bye, with Monday’s disheartening loss to the Cardinals followed by Tuesday’s monster moves at the trade deadline and then, of course, the tragedy of Marshawn Kneeland’s suicide announced on Thursday. The difficulty of processing the Kneeland tragedy will sit with the players and the franchise for well beyond these initial days.
The team will, eventually, get back to football, with a must-win Monday night game against the Raiders to be followed by the gauntlet of the Eagles, Chiefs and Lions–a stretch that will require two wins, somehow, if the Cowboys are to remain the NFC playoff chase.
When the Cowboys next take the field, they will have a remade defense, with star defensive lineman Quinnen Williams on the interior and Logan Wilson at linebacker, hopefully joined by a recuperating DeMarvion Kneeland.
That’s good news for the Cowboys as a whole. But it likely will mean trouble for one promising rookie.
Cowboys’ Jay Toia Has Struggled
That would be Jay Toia, the Cowboys’ seventh-round pick from UCLA. He has been getting 29.2% of the team’s snaps on defense in the four games in which he has played this season, a pretty good number for a player in his draft position. But he has been steamrolled in his opportunities thus far, copping a Pro Football Focus grade of just 29.5, worst in the NFL among defensive linemen with at least 50 snaps this season.
Toia, at 6-foot-2 and 342 pounds, and only 22 years old, could have a future in the NFL. But he should not have a present, not until he improves drastically.
Toia Has Struggled in His Opportunities
At the USA Today site Cowboys Wire, it was pointed out that Toia and Perrion Winfrey should be in a battle for the reps that are available behind Williams, Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa. Winfrey has been out with a back injury and should be ready to come back after an IR stint.
Even Winfrey could be left in the cold.
Writes Cowboys Wire: “Toia has struggled in his first year and could be the odd man out. Mazi Smith’s departure helps a little, but with Perrion Winfrey soon returning from IR, the battle is on. It will come down to Winfrey and Toia duking it out on the depth chart with the veteran most likely to win the battle for scraps.”
Cowboys Could Still Have Long-Term Plans
That’s not to say that Toia won’t be with the Cowboys going forward, but he was only a fringe roster player in the best of times. His size and youth, though, make him a long-term possibility for this roster, still.
Here’s what the Blogging the Boys website wrote about Toia after the Cowboys snapped him up last year:
“At 340 pounds, Toia has spent the last three seasons taking up space for the Bruins’ defensive line. He’s a hyper player, always moving and slowly pushing the pile. He’s a consistent roadblock that forces offenses to find another path. While he’s not a great shedder, he does have good play awareness and will follow the play. This creates opportunities for pass deflections and late-play tackles. He doesn’t quit. And while his role will be a two-down run-stopping nose, his happy feet allow him to create pressures on the quarterback.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
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