Rugby player-turned DT joins Cowboys draft class, experts high on potential
Rugby player-turned DT joins Cowboys draft class, experts high on potential
Mazi Smith was a first-round draft pick just two years ago. Osa Odighizuwa signed a huge contract extension this offseason to remain in Dallas, and then the team signed veteran Solomon Thomas just a week later. But the Cowboys have decided they're not quite set at defensive tackle.
With the 217th pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the Cowboys selected Jay Toia from UCLA. This pick came to Dallas as part of the Joe Milton trade package.
At 340-plus pounds, Toia is a massive human, roughly the same size as second-season man Justin Rogers, who was a seventh-round draft pick himself out of Auburn last year. But he's said to be surprisingly nimble, perhaps a byproduct of a background as a rugby player. Put it all together, and with a little more coaching, he could be just what the Cowboys need as a run-stopping D-tackle.
Here's how a few of the big national outlets evaluated Toia in the weeks and months leading up to the draft.
Dane Brugler, The Athletic
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A three-year starter at UCLA, Toia was the zero-/one-technique in defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe's 3-3-5 base scheme. His production on paper doesn't jump out, but the tape shows a player willing to chew up blocks in the middle, freeing linebackers and ends to make plays.
When he plays with consistent leverage, Toia is able to put down roots and shut down inside run lanes. However, he must continue to develop his instincts to create tackle opportunities, instead of just taking up room. Overall, Toia might not have the length or awareness to be a full-time two-gapper in the NFL, but he has a powerful base and physical hands to neutralize the point of attack. He projects as a scheme-versatile nose tackle.
Lance Zierlein, NFL.com
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Three-year starter with the build and mentality to play nose tackle in odd or even fronts. Toia carries a girthy base and is heavy into first contact. He has the power to give good resistance against all forms of blocks that come his way but a lack of length makes him more of a space eater than a block beater. He pummels single-block protection with violent club moves for sporadic pressures but is unlikely to get home. He'll need to improve his block recognition and fine-tune his take-on to be his best version of a two-down run defender.
Kyle Crabbs, The 33rd Team
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UCLA Bruins defensive tackle Jay Toia is a dense nose guard who has a role waiting for him at the NFL level. He lacks the explosive reach and knockback power to serve as the deluxe version of this type of defender — that's more so what should be expected from a Tyleik Williams.
If you're looking for a low-to-the-ground, thick defender who is difficult to uproot and move, Toia can be your guy. He's surprisingly nimble for his size but lacks the tackle radius and short-area explosive change of direction to finish plays with consistency in the backfield.
Lennox Tate, NFL Draft Buzz
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The film shows a player with clear strengths and limitations that will shape his NFL trajectory. Toia brings immediate value as a run defender, using his natural leverage and impressive lower body strength to absorb double teams and occasionally reset the line of scrimmage. However, his limited lateral range and inconsistent block recognition will restrict his deployment primarily to early downs where his strengths can be maximized and weaknesses minimized.His pass rush contributions remain a work in progress. While he showed improvement as a senior by increasing his pressure numbers, Toia lacks the refined hand technique and counter moves necessary to consistently affect quarterbacks at the next level. His burst allows him to occasionally collapse the pocket through sheer power, but he'll need significant technical development to become anything more than an occasional push-rusher who forces quarterbacks to reset their platforms.Toia's ceiling will be determined by how quickly he can develop the instincts and awareness that his limited football background hasn't yet provided. Coming late to the sport has given him raw tools but left gaps in his game recognition. His physical traits suggest rotational potential immediately, but inconsistent tackle efficiency and limited range will prevent three-down usage early in his career. The team that drafts him will be betting on development rather than day-one impact, understanding that patience may be required to unlock his complete skill set in a defensive front.
CBS Sports
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Jay Toia is an interior defender with a thicker lower-body build that allows him to fill two gaps. He has the strength, but not necessarily the quickness to stack and shed blockers and penetrate. Toia has a high floor in run defense but will offer little to nothing in pass-rush production.
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RotoPat's 2025 NFL GM rankings: Analysis for all 32 teams
For the first time since 1967, all 32 teams entered draft night still in possession of their first-round pick. Perhaps chastened by such recent fiascos as the Deshaun Watson trade or the Panthers flipping a first-rounder that turned into the No. 1 overall pick, NFL general managers have grown more cautious. Or maybe it's just groupthink. Picks are valuable. Trades are risky. If you are going to get fired, it might as well at least be by the book. So on and so forth. Except 'by the book' never gets you to the promised land in the NFL. Howie Roseman has tried team-building every which way. Andy Reid drafted Patrick Mahomes even as Alex Smith kept winning divisions. As spreadsheets loom ever larger, knowing when to deviate from the numbers is arguably becoming the most important trait for executives who are all now largely operating within the same analytical framework. The criteria is the same as always. All front office activity — from players and coaches to draft picks and contracts — is taken into consideration. Past achievements are not forgotten, but recent history is given greater emphasis. Even in a results-based business, the process is vital. Last year's list can be found here. 2023's is here. 1. Howie Roseman, Eagles There is more than one way to build a football team. Just ask Howie Roseman, who has seemed to try them all at this point. But there will always be a few common threads. Build out the trenches. Save your cap space for only the most premium positions. Stockpile draft picks for either trade ammunition or maximizing dart throws in a league where player projection remains more art than science. Last but not least, know when to ignore these maxims. Roseman is a draft pick accumulator except for when the opportunity to land a franchise player presents itself. That's how he got Carson Wentz in 2016. When that era fizzled out, he changed gears and built the roster around a second-round, dual-threat quarterback. Jalen Hurts' ground lethality is one reason Roseman seemed loath to invest in running back, a non-premium position. But then Saquon Barkley became available and Roseman knew when an opportunity was too good to pass up. It helped win him his second Super Bowl. Nearly the entire roster turned over between the Eagles' 2018 and 2025 Lombardi liftings, but Roseman never stopped reinforcing his offensive line or gleefully selecting blue chip, power-conference defensive prospects. Roseman doesn't always get it right, but no one changes a losing course in quicker or more effective fashion. Where most franchises rely on either the coach, quarterback, or both, the Eagles are the rare team where no one is more important than the general manager. 2. Andy Reid/Brett Veach, Chiefs Modern NFL dynasties are never just about the football. There's also the finance and personnel management. No matter how well you thread the needle, you still end up with situations like the 2024 Chiefs. Kansas City rode an elite core all the way to the Super Bowl only for their champagne problems to finally be laid bare. With Hall-of-Famers Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones and Travis Kelce chewing up acres of salary cap space, the Chiefs were short-handed in too many critical areas. That includes the receiver corps, offensive line and backfield. But the struggles weren't solely about money. The Chiefs could still afford to pay a few more stars, but how do you land them when you are picking at No. 31 or 32 every year? The NFL's salary cap system punishes greatness, and you either need to be ruthless like the Patriots of yore or ruthlessly opportunistic like Howie Roseman's Eagles to sustain a sovereignty. Andy Reid and Brett Veach have mostly succeeded on both fronts. They have played contract hardball when necessary (Jones, Tyreek Hill) and kept churning on their problem spots until solutions presented themselves (Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy). No one is going to feel sorry for you when you have Mahomes, but the constant cap and draft crunches mean being the Chiefs isn't as easy as it looks. 3. Sean McVay/Les Snead, Rams Football eras tend to be defined by quarterbacks. That's one of just many ways Sean McVay has been a mold breaker. No one would call this Rams project the 'Jared Goff years' or 'Matthew Stafford epoch.' But don't be fooled: McVay had a franchise player. Aaron Donald will soon be an inner-circle Hall-of-Famer. Donald anchoring the defense provided McVay with an unusually large margin of team-building error. His retirement left McVay with not only a crater along the defensive line, but the need for an entirely new approach to roster-building. Consider the first test passed. Marking a first-round pick together for the first time during their eight-year partnership, McVay and GM Les Snead … drafted the defensive rookie of the year, Jared Verse. Although Verse was an EDGE rusher to Donald's interior menace, second-rounder Braden Fiske spent more time at tackle. He finished third in DROY voting. Alrighty then. It was just the latest confirmation there is no football problem too big for McVay to solve. Quarterback issues, offensive line woes, assistants constantly departing for head-coaching jobs … McVay has weathered it all. McVay has made plenty of mistakes — see his history of trade and free agent additions at receiver — but he always admits them quickly. McVay doesn't get bogged down by the sunk cost fallacy or 'the way we've always done things.' He adapts. And wins. A lot. 4. Eric DeCosta, Ravens Building a football team is rarely about just about one move. It's that magic bullet theory that so often torments some of the league's lesser franchises. Signing an aging Aaron Rodgers will hardly matter if the roster is lousy or the culture is rotten. But one move can make all the difference if the foundation is already set, and that's an area where Eric DeCosta has been almost as good as his legendary predecessor Ozzie Newsome. After Newsome's 'one move' of drafting Lamar Jackson to revitalize a strong 53-man roster that was merely missing a quarterback, DeCosta has continued to 'one move' this group closer and closer to the Super Bowl. In need of a new defensive linchpin in 2022, he stopped Kyle Hamilton's draft day slide. In search of someone to reduce the play-making pressure on L-Jax, he signed Derrick Henry in 2024. Offseason after offseason, DeCosta seems to keep finding the one perfect addition, which is all the more important in his case because that's frequently all you get in the Ravens' position. The league's parity-obsessed collective bargaining agreement is terribly punitive for elite franchises. So if you're a winner like Baltimore, you need to routinely maximize your limited draft capital and salary cap space. DeCosta has done so, keeping his team's championship window wide open even in the conference of Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. 5. Brian Gutekunst, Packers How do you bridge the quarterback gap? A lot of dart throws. For as much credit as Brian Gutekunst and the Packers deserve for apparently keeping the Jordan Love faith from 2020-22, one of the main reasons the transition from Aaron Rodgers has been so seamless is the Packers' ludicrous depth. Gutekunst made a truly ridiculous 35 draft picks from 2022-24. 27 of those players remain in the Packers' ecosystem. Every team claims they focus on draft-and-development. The Packers actually do it. Gutekunst also deserves credit for not becoming so blinkered in his approach he literally never signs a free agent, a la his predecessor Ted Thompson. Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney were both key 2024 contributors. Where Gutekunst does run into a bit of trouble is committing to as strong of a vision on the field as off of it. Are the Packers going to let Love sling it or not? What is this receiver corps supposed to be? What is the identity on defense? Who is the leader on defense? It's not recent first-rounders Lukas Van Ness or Quay Walker. Maybe it will be 2024 second-rounder Edgerrin Cooper. Gutekunst's team-building approach allows for an unusually large margin of error. That's nice, but if there's one thing lacking, it's the kind of high-end talent that wins conferences, not just a playoff game or two. If more of Gutekunst's depth can become stars, Love could join Rodgers and Brett Favre in the history books. 6. Brad Holmes, Lions Brad Holmes has overseen the Lions' best two-year run since the AFL/NFL merger. Building a roster that makes 15-2 possible in Detroit is an accomplishment akin to Theo Epstein freeing the Red Sox and saving the Cubs. What makes it most impressive by NFL standards is that Holmes has done so without what would be considered a true franchise quarterback. Jared Goff was perceived to be a stop-gap throw-in to the Matthew Stafford trade. His wild overachievement has helped obscure what is becoming a key question: Can this team reach Valhalla with Goff under center? Again, the fact it has even become a question speaks to the wonders Holmes and Dan Campbell have worked. But it has taken on greater urgency following the first real adversity of the Holmes/Campbell era. Not just last winter's upset defeat in the Divisional Round, but the loss of the third man in the Lions' turnaround triumvirate, OC Ben Johnson. Holmes has drafted almost impossibly well during his five years in the Motor City, but 2024 was the first time he found himself picking in the mid 20s instead of the lottery or teens. His top two selections, Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw, made zero positive impact. Like Goff's plateauing, it's a reminder that sustaining an elite roster is an even more difficult task than building one to begin with. Holmes has yet to find a test he couldn't pass, though the questions only get more complicated from here on out. 7. Kyle Shanahan/John Lynch, 49ers So much of the Kyle Shanahan magic is about the scheme that it can be easy to forget the roster sorcery. Shanny and John Lynch like big names and aren't afraid of trades. They also do things like turn the final pick of the draft into one of the league's highest-paid quarterbacks. 'Highest paid' sometimes trips Shanny and company up. There have been a litany of contract squabbles in recent years, likely too many to maintain true locker room comity. Perhaps that's why there was no money drama with a quarterback in Brock Purdy who probably should have been nickel and dime'd in extension talks. But perhaps Shanny is learning. He is definitely always evolving. Evolution will be a must for 2025 after an injury-plagued 2024. On defense, former mainstays Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga are gone. The same is true of free agent busts Javon Hargrave and Leonard Floyd. Former DC Robert Saleh is back. It's a similar story on offense, where Deebo Samuel has been shipped out and Brandon Aiyuk is rehabbing a torn ACL. 2024 first-rounder Ricky Pearsall needs to develop. This isn't as star-heavy of a group as recent seasons, but the Niners have made a whopping 37 draft picks over the past four years. As long as Shanny keeps developing with the best of them, the next wave of impact 49ers should begin coming into its own. 8. Sean McDermott/Brandon Beane, Bills You have increasingly limited means of solving your problems when your quarterback is one of the league's highest-paid players and you are always selecting in the 26-30 range of the draft. With that disclaimer out of the way, the Bills haven't been solving their problems the past two years. Desperate for more weapons on offense, they used back-to-back top selections on Dalton Kincaid and Keon Coleman. Neither has yet to make a meaningful impact. With salary cap issues limiting the margin for error, things haven't gone any better in free agency. Of their biggest deals since 2023 — Von Miller, Connor McGovern, Curtis Samuel — none have really panned out. Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane still do good enough work around the edges to prevent the roster from falling apart, but they need to start getting the bigger decisions right again. This spring, that was using top-40(ish) picks on a pair of defenders and signing Joey Bosa, Josh Palmer and EDGE rusher Michael Hoecht. That should represent a legitimate talent infusion on defense and reinforcement on offense. If that latest best-laid plan goes awry, the Bills might finally give someone else a chance to build around the remainder of Josh Allen's prime. 9. John Schneider, Seahawks John Schneider spent 14 years working in Pete Carroll's shadow. Truth be told, it was a wonderful place to be. Carroll, you may remember, was pretty great at his job. He won more than just about anybody his first 10 years in Seattle. When he finally stopped, people assumed Carroll was the problem, not his longtime personnel man. Never mind that Carroll was one of the greatest football minds in American history. But then again, Carroll probably was the issue by that time. At some point, you become a victim of your own success. You can't change your faulty ways because they worked for so long before that. Carroll needed to be jolted out of his stupor. He's getting a second chance in Las Vegas. The same is true for Schneider in Seattle, who has gracefully assumed full personnel power while still giving great leeway to new head coach Mike Macdonald. MM decided he needed a complete offensive overhaul after Year 1. Schneider has obliged. Schneider isn't here to struggle for power. He wants to work together, and it's hard to argue with the track record, both with Carroll and Macdonald's 10-win inaugural campaign. Long a volume drafter, Schneider has finally restocked the Seahawks' depth. Always willing to try anything at quarterback, he has paired this generation's Matt Flynn in Sam Darnold with whom he hopes is this generation's Russell Wilson in Jalen Milroe. It might not work. It probably won't work. As long as it's not a disaster that costs Schneider his job, he will move on quickly to the next potential solution. Adaptable and collaborative, Schneider has the right traits to keep hanging around in Seattle. 10. Jason Licht, Bucs The Bucs 'should' have fired Jason Licht after 2019. Coming off a 7-9 season, he was 34-62 (.354) after six years on the job and had ridden the Jameis Winston 'era' into the ditch. You know what happened next. Tom Brady wanted to move to Tampa and the rest was history. Brady's last ride, of course, could have only worked with what turned out to be a deceptively-great Licht roster, and the personnel man finally earned some newfound respect. But then Brady retired and surely that was the end of it, right? Licht's latest reinvention has been even more surprising than the first. It's easier to win when you have the greatest player of all time. Much less so after he retires, but Licht has continued to thrive. The Bucs have not only won back-to-back division titles without Brady, they have done so in a fashion that's gotten back-to-back OCs head-coaching jobs. There is still work to be done. Despite overachievement now so routine it's fair to argue he was underrated all along, Baker Mayfield can probably only be ridden so far. Mike Evans and the defense are old. The Bucs' 2023-24 drafts were not calamitous, but they weren't home runs, either. Licht's staying power has been remarkable. But that's not a self-perpetuating quality. Licht needs his new guard to show up. If it doesn't, the tweeting class will once again be ready with their 'shoulds.' 11. Adam Peters, Commanders Adam Peters made the NFC Championship Game his first year on the job. With a quarterback he drafted. With a coach he hired. With a defensive captain he signed in free agency. Other than that, it was a so-so season. So yes, Peters had the inaugural campaign dreams are made of. Although you could argue that there's nowhere to go but down, Peters has kept his sights trained upward. He traded for a No. 1 cornerback in Marshon Lattimore, left tackle in Laremy Tunsil, and No. 2 wideout in Deebo Samuel. He used the No. 29 overall pick on a right tackle. Consider Washington's primary needs addressed. Although this team is understandably playing for 2025, Peters now just needs to make sure he doesn't sacrifice overall roster stability and depth for the transient present. There's a reason Washington was picking No. 2 overall in 2024. Then again, when your circumstances change, there's no point in pretending otherwise. What was supposed to be a rebuild is instead a championship window. If Peters ends up paying a price in 2027 or 2028, there's a strong chance it will have been worth it. Peters had a first-year plan. He executed it to perfection. He's earned the benefit of the doubt for seasons to come. 12. Nick Caserio, Texans By now you know the story. After years of painstaking roster building and draft pick hoarding, Nick Caserio finally pounced in the 2023 draft. He nabbed C.J. Stroud at No. 2 overall and traded up for franchise pass-rusher Will Anderson at No. 3. They both won rookie of the year, the Texans won the division and a playoff game, and lived happily ever after. Not exactly, of course. Rather than letting nature take its course, Caserio forced the issue for 2024, lavishing money on free agent defenders and trade capital on skill players. The end result was … 10-7. It thankfully included another division title and wild card victory, but was ultimately a humbling reminder that there are no shortcuts. That is not even to say 2024 was a bad offseason for Caserio. It's just that we tend to overrate how much can be accomplished via the trade and free agent markets. Caserio was more sober-minded this spring, spending little and mostly just shuffling picks around with his draft weekend trades. There's a time and place for front office theatrics. Caserio simply needed to remember it's not every offseason. 13. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Vikings Kwesi Adofo-Mensah traded up twice for J.J. McCarthy last spring — then he didn't play. Whether intentionally or not, Adofo-Mensah was actually ready for this contingency. He gave free agent Sam Darnold $10 million before charting his aggressive draft course. The surprising 14-win season that followed left the Vikings with even more limited draft capital than expected after the previous spring's machinations, but a clear course of action: Build around McCarthy's rookie contract. Already a free spender in 2024, Adofo-Mensah went even bigger in 2025, lassoing C Ryan Kelly, CB Byron Murphy, OG Will Fries and DTs Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen. In theory, Adofo-Mensah is striking while the iron is hot. In reality, he's not just taking advantage of McCarthy's team-friendly deal, but attempting to offset what has been consistently shaky drafting. Of course, that assessment will disappear if McCarthy is the real deal. If not, the only thing Adofo-Mensah may have been building toward is the opportunity for wiz kid coach Kevin O'Connell to eventually handpick his own personnel man. 14. George Paton, Broncos The QB6 in this year's draft class — Shedeur Sanders, maybe you've heard of him — went at No. 144 overall. The QB6 in last year's group went … No. 12. To Sean Payton and George Paton's Broncos. Were they taking the advantage of a loaded group or forcing the issue at football's most important position, one where they had an acute need? It doesn't matter. Whatever the process, the result was an OROY3 finish and Wild Card appearance for Bo Nix and company. Although the Broncos' offense was strong, the defense was better. The Brothers Pa(y)ton attempted to strengthen that strength this spring with a pair of free agent splurges on rehabbing 49ers, S Talanoa Hufanga and LB Dre Greenlaw. For Nix, they went to work in the draft, seeking to fix their run-game woes with No. 60 overall back R.J. Harvey. Another position of need, receiver, was addressed at No. 74 with Pat Bryant, a player Payton has rather unhelpfully already compared to Michael Thomas. Aggression remains Payton's modus operandi. Arguably no other approach will work in a division with Patrick Mahomes. The question is if any approach will work when your primary competition is Tom Brady's heir apparent. After a shaky start together in 2023, Paton and Payton have at least given themselves a fighting chance. 15. Joe Hortiz, Chargers Slow and steady. That might not win the race in Patrick Mahomes' AFC West, but it was enough to get the Chargers back in the running last season. Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz opted for more of the same this spring, making nine draft picks for the second consecutive year and once again approaching free agency like the goal was to shore up the middle of the roster rather than shake up the top. This is the rare team where development appears to be the focus, not quick fixes or chasing big names on the trade or free agent markets. The belief is that only the soundest fundamentals and deepest overall core can take on the world's best coach and quarterback tandem in Mahomes and Andy Reid. It's a sound, serious bet, if not necessarily an attention-grabbing one as a forgotten franchise with a nascent fanbase. Harbaugh and Hortiz are building it. We'll see what comes as the fight to dislodge Mahomes only ever seems to get more difficult. 16. Jerry Jones/Stephen Jones, Cowboys 2021-23 saw top-heavy Cowboys rosters produce three straight 12-5 campaigns only for the bottom to fall out each time in the playoffs. They didn't have to wait for the postseason in 2024. Already sitting at a disappointing 3-4, the Cowboys watched their season end in Week 9 when Dak Prescott suffered a torn hamstring. There their issues were laid bare after several seasons of botched contract negotiations and uninspiring drafts. Prescott had few weapons, worse protection, and a stars-and-scrubs defense no longer being held together by elite DC Dan Quinn. First-round left tackle Tyler Guyton was amongst the league's worst performing Day 1 picks. Jerry Jones' front office had nowhere to hide in the offseason, but that didn't prevent them from burrowing in even deeper. Not a pliant enough stooge, Mike McCarthy was out, and the league's least sought after head-coaching candidate Brian Schottenheimer was in. There is only one organization where Schottenheimer could have even gotten a 2025 head-coaching interview, let alone job. Now he has the thankless task of lashing together a decaying roster that couldn't afford anyone in free agency and was limited to value hunting in the draft. The Cowboys have a legitimate franchise quarterback, No. 1 receiver and elite pass-rusher. Not many teams can say that. They also now have the league's least qualified coach to go along with their same old depth issues. Even if they muster a return to 12-5 regular season form, that's the kind of formula bound to fall apart again when it matters most. 17. Duke Tobin, Bengals Duke Tobin pushed the metaphorical easy button on Joe Burrow in 2020. Everything else has been hard. We know sacks can be a quarterback stat, but Burrow has never been protected well. And that's just on offense. On defense, Tobin's crew typically leaves it so that Burrow has to play a perfect game to have any chance of victory. The Bengals have finished in the top 16 by either points or yards allowed one time during the Burrow era. Although it's true teams with elite offenses tend to surrender more enemy production, this was a one-man band in 2024 with Trey Hendrickson. So it's not good news the linchpin edge rusher is on year two of a trade demand. This time, he insists he won't play under his current contract. With the salary cap and owner Mike Brown's legendarily spendthrift ways limiting Tobin's options in free agency, he added either Hendrickson's future running mate or replacement in Shemar Stewart at No. 17 overall. Anything short of a DROY-contending season from the rookie will leave Tobin's roster in a deeply vulnerable position. Tobin is in no danger of being fired. That's not how things work in Cincinnati. But several years in the wilderness, a la the 2012-16 Saints, could be on tap without some seriously surprising 2025 contributions from some of Tobin's more recent draft picks. 18. Chris Grier, Dolphins Chris Grier has been on the job nine seasons. His rosters have two more victories than losses. That's if you don't include the playoffs, where Grier's squads have gone 0-3. It hasn't always been easy to glean where a dysfunctional Dolphins power structure ends and Grier begins, but this has been Grier's show for most of the 2020s, ownership notwithstanding. Stephen Ross has always favored big splashes, and Grier has tended to oblige him. It's an approach that has frequently left the Dolphins low on draft capital and unable to hand out second contracts to homegrown talent. That's a real tough way to run an organization, but winning at least eight games all five years since drafting Tua Tagovailoa keeps convincing the Dolphins they are only a player or two away. That illusion finally seemed to be dropped this spring, where they kept their powder dry in free agency, talked about trading Jalen Ramsey, and held onto their draft picks … until Day 2. That's when Grier gave up his third- and fourth-rounders for the right to move up 11 spots to select a guard, Jonah Savaiinaea. Grier clearly feels between a rock and a hard place following a 2024 Tagovailoa extension that could charitably be deemed 'risky' and arguably be labeled 'instantly catastrophic.' The Dolphins won't be bad in 2025. They're also no one's idea of 'good.' There's a real chance Year 10 on the job is Grier's last in Miami. 19. Omar Khan, Steelers Omar Khan has done his part in perpetuating the 'Steeler Way.' The problem is what that has come to mean in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era. Khan's teams are never bad. They've also never been great. Khan's clubs have won nine, 10 and 10 contests. None of those victories have come in the postseason. Khan is stumped by the same problem as everyone: Quarterback. After his predecessor's disastrous parting gift of Kenny Pickett, Khan has become mired in the stopgap market. You could argue that's his only option with the overall roster remaining decent, but Jared Goff exists. So does Brock Purdy. Quarterback solutions are hard to come by when you are drafting in the 20s instead of top five, but not impossible. It would be one thing if Khan's only issue was replacing a Hall-of-Famer. He has also failed to replenish the coffers in several key areas. Kevin Colbert's defensive core is getting up in years, while the offensive base is growing less and less impressive. Khan's drafts have been workmanlike. That's better than bad, but not up to Colbert's standards. Mike Tomlin has become the symbol for the Steelers' ossified approach, but Khan is right there with him. If a 2025 draft class that includes just one top-80 pick can't turn things around, the Steelers might do the unthinkable: Make changes to the front office and sideline. 20. Monti Ossenfort, Cardinals The only thing worse than not having a franchise quarterback is maybe having a franchise quarterback. Monti Ossenfort was hired in January 2023. He has spent the intervening 28 months waiting on Kyler Murray. First, to get healthy. Second, to maybe finally take the next step. Murray started every game last season for the first time since 2020 and … conducted a shot-for-shot remake of his rookie-year stats from 2019. The next level probably isn't coming, but Murray still has guaranteed money through the 2026 season. That deal was organized by Ossenfort's predecessor. Now all he can do is continue to wait. He has done so with limited free agent forays — Josh Sweat notwithstanding — and draft pick stockpiling. The Cardinals have made 28 picks in three years on Ossenfort's watch, trading down for extra capital six times in three springs, including five times between 2023-24. Ossenfort made fewer than nine selections for the first time this year, though he still made at least one pick in all seven rounds. That's quaint, old-fashioned team-building. Even in the NFL, patience tends to be a virtue. Forcing solutions is how you end up trading for Deshaun Watson or drafting Kenny Pickett. But Ossenfort is nevertheless in a position where his lack of action could result in his 2026 firing if Murray remains mired in mediocrity. That's not fair. It's also how things have always worked around here. 21. Mickey Loomis, Saints Mickey Loomis is headed into season four without Sean Payton. We are still waiting on his first post-Payton innovation. Everyone knows Loomis' one weird trick. Pretend the salary cap doesn't exist and renegotiate every contract like you are trying to create the next 'Bobby Bonilla Day.' That's how you get a $35.6 million cap surcharge for the second year of Derek Carr's 'retirement' in 2026. It's also how you remain stuck in the 7-9 win shadow zone. Until you don't. Loomis' crew collapsed to five victories last season, the franchise's fewest since 2005, the year before Payton arrived. Loomis finally moved outside the Payton coaching tree when he replaced a fossilized Dennis Allen with Kellen Moore, but then he placed a franchise quarterback bet on a second-rounder who is about to turn 26 and moves like … a dinosaur. Loomis has an unwavering belief he can always remain one step ahead of the law, or aging curve. In an era where teams all across the big four sports cynically resort to tanking as a roster-building shortcut, Loomis never stops trying to win. It's admirable until you suffer through 3-4 Saints games in a row. Then, the conclusion becomes crystal clear: 'You know what, Sam Hinkie probably had a point.' Maybe the Moore/Shough plan somehow pays off. More than likely, it will only further delay the most overdue rebuild in the history of sports. 22. Andrew Berry, Browns The good news: For the first time in four years, the Browns had a draft pick inside the top 50. Three of them, in fact. The bad news: Just about everything else. Andrew Berry's big bet failed worse than any in the history of modern football. Deshaun Watson made 19 starts in three years. The Browns won nine of them. If you somehow completed the mental gymnastics of leaping past the moral elements of the Watson deal, that was your reward as the man Watson replaced, Baker Mayfield, returned to form as a viable playoff quarterback. Failure. Fiasco. So very Browns. Now they are moving on but doing so with a roster entirely bereft of offensive talent. Berry acknowledged the scale of the problem when he passed on generational prospect Travis Hunter at No. 2 overall and moved down for more picks. Smart, if also incoherent. Passing on Hunter came one month after making Myles Garrett the highest-paid defensive end in NFL history. So which is it? Is this team competing or not? If you want to give Berry a pass, the 'which is it' question could also apply to the front office as 'who is it?' More than perhaps any NFL team save Dallas, the Browns are subject to the whims of their owner. Draft Johnny Manziel. Acquire Watson. Take Shedeur Sanders two rounds after passing on him for a different quarterback. All of Berry's worst decisions can be traced back to the owner. Unfortunate, but … that doesn't make them good. Perhaps it's time for Berry to find a new boss. 23. Ryan Poles, Bears The Big Ideas GM™ is back with another. This one might actually work. After surrounding Justin Fields with almost no talent, Ryan Poles went overboard with Caleb Williams. He just forgot blockers or coaches. Fixes have been applied for 2025. Poles made Drew Dalman one of the highest-paid centers in the history of the league before trading for Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. Although Williams will undoubtedly appreciate his interior line no longer immediately caving in, the biggest addition was made on the sideline. Despite a track record that can generously be described as 'mixed,' Poles landed the biggest coaching fish on the market. Ben Johnson couldn't pass up Williams after declining to coach Jayden Daniels in 2024. It's a coup for Poles, but potentially the seed of his own demise. One of the choosiest coaching candidates of recent times, Johnson is the kind of sideline impresario who could end up demanding his own personnel man. Or the duo could combine for 10-11 victories in 2025 and be on their merry way together. Good decisions don't always beget good outcomes in the NFL. The competition is fierce and the variables are many. But just about anybody in Poles' offseason position would have pursued and hired Johnson. If he's on his last chance, he's making the most of it. 24. Terry Fontenot, Falcons It's always Terry Fontenot time. Except for when it's not, which is also always. Fontenot shoots his draft shot more than anyone else in modern football. Whereas the draft day galaxy brain used to be a hallmark of a league that preferred its decision-making to come from the gut, the process has become staid and analytical over the past decade or two. Not in Atlanta. Fontenot's latest gambit was surrendering a future first-round pick to trade back in to … No. 26. For a non-quarterback. To select a player with well-documented 'character concerns.' Bold, and distinctly Fontenot-ian. As much as I would like to celebrate such dice-rolling in an increasingly risk-averse league, Fontenot's big swings haven't produced big win totals. 29 victories and zero winning seasons in four years, in fact. If you are going to cut against the grain, you better show the conventional wisdom wasn't working. Fontenot's curveballs keep rolling harmlessly to the backstop. Kyle Pitts didn't work. Arthur Smith didn't work. Kirk Cousins didn't work. At least so far, hiring Raheem Morris over Bill Belichick hasn't worked. Michael Penix and James Pearce are Fontenot's last stand. Fontenot has kept it lively. Now he needs one of his wild team-building theories to actually work. 25. Chris Ballard, Colts What should be expected of Chris Ballard? His first franchise player retired at the age of 29 in 2019. His former boss, the late Jim Irsay, was a constant wild card. Ballard was forced to hire television presenter Jeff Saturday mid-season in 2022. There has always been a lot going on in Indianapolis. But simple twists of fate are daily occurrences in the NFL, and Ballard has navigated his with all of one playoff victory in eight seasons. And if Irsay was Ballard's sometimes-erratic supervisor, he was also his greatest protector. Everything has changed for this Colts organization, very much including Ballard. Although we just dressed up Ballard's long-term issues in more philosophical terms, his most pressing concern is the same as it is for all general managers: Quarterback. Anthony Richardson probably isn't the answer. Daniel Jones definitely isn't the answer. When quarterback isn't settled, everything else has to be perfect. It's been a long time since spots 2-53 on the Indianapolis roster have been capable of hiding the top spot. Ballard has been given every opportunity to do so. 2025 will probably be his last chance. 26. Eliot Wolf, Patriots The Patriots' power structure has become one of arranged marriages. Something of an accidental GM following Bill Belichick's firing, Eliot Wolf was paired with Jerod Mayo, the BB protege owner Robert Kraft deemed most acceptable last season. It didn't work. Like, at all. Enter another probable 'owner hire' in Mike Vrabel. Unlike Mayo, Vrabel has gobs of experience, some of it at the Patriots' expense. It was the triumph of Vrabel's Titans over the Pats in the 2019-20 Wild Card Round that finalized the long-simmering Belichick/Brady divorce. Vrabel can coach. Can he coexist with Wolf? Vrabel was party to several power struggles of his own in Tennessee, one of which he won, the other he lost. In Wolf, he has a partner who prioritized the obvious in Year 1: Get a quarterback. Drake Maye couldn't prevent a return to the 2025 lottery, but he showed plenty of promise. Wolf spent this spring surrounding him with talent, including a top-five offensive tackle, top-40 running back and top-70 wideout. That does not include yet another Patriots throwback, so-old-he's-new-again OC Josh McDaniels. Wolf and company now have a much better group and plan in place as they try to move out of Brady and Belichick's long shadows. Whether it works will come down to a rather prosaic GM concern: Can the adventurous young QB avoid the monster hits that plagued his rookie campaign and actually stay on the field? 27. Dan Morgan, Panthers You will rarely find a general manager in a tougher spot. The Panthers had the league's No. 32 defense in 2024 and remain unsure if they have their franchise quarterback. Where do you even begin? For Dan Morgan, it's apparently receiver. Morgan has used each of his first-round selections on wideouts. The first already looks like a bust. The second better not be from the No. 8 overall spot. With wideout the focus of Morgan's limited draft capital following the franchise's 2023 trade up for Bryce Young, the second-year executive has had to rely on the open market to fix everything else. In 2024, it was interior linemen. In 2025, it was anyone who played defense. Morgan did manage to shore up his offensive line, but tactically addressing blockers is one thing. Throwing money at every position group on the other side of the ball is another. Even if Young pans out, this is a team currently lacking long-term building blocks. If he doesn't, this is looking like one of the most dispiriting 53-man rosters in recent memory. Morgan did not create this mess. That doesn't change the fact it could still take several more GMs to clean it up. 28. Joe Schoen, Giants Full disclosure: Joe Schoen did not draft Daniel Jones. He can't be tagged with Kadarius Toney, either. But even if you didn't create the problem, you still have to fix it. Schoen's group fell further behind in 2024. Now the most optimistic take is that things have to get more boring before they can get better. Knowing his job is on the line, Schoen took a first-round quarterback. But it was at No. 25 overall with a player no one thinks is ready to start 17 games as a rookie. Since Schoen doesn't have 17 games to spare, he's hoping veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston can muddle the team along to 7-10 or 8-9 before the 'real' rebuild begins in 2026. It's not entirely unrealistic. The G-Men's defense is solid enough. The offense has a legitimate building block in Malik Nabers. But since when is 7-8 wins in the fourth season of a project that produced 18 total victories in years 1-3 enough to get an executive a fifth chance? In New York, it might be. The G-Men are desperate to escape the laughingstock status they have possessed most of the past decade. They crave 'stability.' But so far with Schoen, it's been the wrong kind. The reasons for 2025 optimism are few. Schoen was dealt a bad hand. He hasn't played it much better. That's a situation where the end result is almost always a pink slip. New Hires (Alphabetical Order) Mike Borgonzi, Titans 'Keep it simple' is easier said than done in a league with 32 teams and approximately half that many franchise quarterbacks. And yet it's amazing how many general managers don't keep it simple when given the opportunity. First-time GM Mike Borgonzi made no such mistake this offseason. He saw the need, identified the player, and made the pick. Borgonzi has arrived in an unstable Titans franchise. His marriage with second-year head coach Brian Callahan is firmly of the shotgun variety. All the more reason to limit the variables. In a league drowning in complexity, Borgonzi's Titans tenure has a simple pass/fail metric: Is Cam Ward good? If so, Borgonzi/Callahan could be a 10-year pairing. If not … you don't need me to tell you the ending. James Gladstone, Jaguars Like Nick Sirianni before him, James Gladstone isn't winning any press conferences. His speaking style of 'computer program translating millennial English into zoomer English' leaves much misunderstood. But as Sirianni can never stop reminding us, it's the actions that matter, not the words. And boy has Gladstone been a man action his first offseason on the job. Although his free agent spending spree was modest by past Jaguar standards, he still showered serious money on non-core positions. That includes nearly $40 million for guard Patrick Mekari, $21 million for center Robert Hainsey, and $10 million for No. 3 wideout Dyami Brown. The real action came in the draft, where Gladstone traded up for not only Travis Hunter, but also yet another interior lineman in Wyatt Milum. Gladstone has decided his Trevor Lawrence-led roster is a quick fix. He could be right. It's just that every GM seems to reach the same conclusion when they have anything even resembling a franchise player under center. Despite his salary, the verdict very much remains out on T-Law. If Lawrence fails to take a step forward in 2025, it will end up the most painful of learning experiences for his first-time general manager. Darren Mougey, Jets Darren Mougey is the Jets' fourth general manager since 2013. None of those three predecessors won more than 37.5 percent of their games or made the playoffs a single solitary time. That's what Mougey is up against as he attempts to accomplish something, anything positive in Florham Park. He will be doing so with an uncertain mandate. Mougey was hired three days after new head coach Aaron Glenn. Who is really in charge here? Whomever it is, it was a pragmatic offseason for a franchise known for flights of fancy and get-rich-quick schemes. The free agent signings were tactical, the draft trade-ups modest. What might have seemed boring or even defeatist elsewhere was the only sensible first step toward getting this franchise out of the abyss. Rosters never take as long to build as you might think in the NFL, but the process is also never as fast as Jets owner Woody Johnson would like it to be. If Woody — and Brick — can stay out of the way for just 2-3 years, 'Gang Green' might actually start to mean something again. If not, well … over-the-hill former franchise quarterbacks will always need somewhere to retire. John Spytek, Raiders Pete Carroll's new right-hand man, John Spytek approached his first offseason with the understanding the (AFC) west wasn't won in a day. Spytek accumulated draft picks and avoided silver-bullet thinking in the land of Patrick Mahomes and Hall-of-Fame coaches. Of Spytek's 11 selections, two were extra third-rounders acquired in modest trade-downs. He took the best-player available at No. 6 overall, and spread his picks out across seven position groups. He was building for the future, hard as that may be with the league's oldest coach in its toughest division. Patience isn't always a virtue in the NFL. It's still always better than forcing overnight solutions that don't actually exist. Sometimes the most humble of front-office beginnings reap the longest-term rewards.
USA Today
24 minutes ago
- USA Today
Ravens WR depth chart: Where Rashod Bateman fits after extension
Ravens WR depth chart: Where Rashod Bateman fits after extension Show Caption Hide Caption Five NFL games we can't wait to watch in the 2025 season The NFL schedule for the 2025-2026 season has been released. Here are a few games on our must-watch list. The Baltimore Ravens have always been a franchise known for defense. Nowadays, they are a great all-around team that possesses one of the top-scoring offenses in the NFL. The Ravens are a team that promises to beat opponents in a variety of ways, exchanging ground-and-pound for an all-out attack. The running back room features the bruising, punishing Derrick Henry. The tight end room features the steady duo of Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely. The quarterback room features the two-time league MVP and dual-threat Lamar Jackson. It's about time the receiver room has caught up. Zay Flowers is the headliner, but he'll keep his running mate, Rashod Bateman, going forward after the fifth-year receiver inked a three-year, $36.75 million extension. After adding DeAndre Hopkins to the fold, the Ravens are a terrifying bunch for opposing defenses to match up with. Here's a look at the receiver depth chart in Baltimore as minicamp and training camp approach. Ravens WR depth chart Flowers is the unquestioned receiver atop the depth chart in Baltimore, but this is a deeper room than Ravens fans are used to. Hopkins joined the group ahead of his age-33 season, signing a one-year deal worth $6 million in free agency. It's the three-time All-Pro's latest attempt at chasing a Super Bowl after he fell short with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024. He was used sparingly in Kansas City last season, something Baltimore will also have the luxury of doing if they choose to. That is thanks in large part to the presence of Bateman, who is coming off a career year. The 25-year-old should only continue to grow as a player in his fifth season, especially with all the talent around him. Baltimore has not traditionally been recognized for having a strong receiver corps. However, the combination of Flowers, Bateman and Hopkins creates a formidable trio. Wallace, Walker and Wester round out the room, for now, bringing plenty of speed to the table. Anthony Miller, Malik Cunningham, Keith Kirkwood, Dayton Wade, Jahmal Banks, Xavier Guillory are also set to compete for a roster spot in training camp. While it'll take some time for the roster to be finalized, one thing is for certain – this Ravens' offense will be a challenge to deal with in 2025.
USA Today
24 minutes ago
- USA Today
NFL analyst thinks this scenario would be a 'nightmare season' for the Rams
NFL analyst thinks this scenario would be a 'nightmare season' for the Rams What would be the worst-case scenario for the Los Angeles Rams' 2025 NFL season? An early playoff exit? No playoffs? A mid-season retirement for Matthew Stafford? It's impossible to know this early in the summer, but Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon went through the "nightmare season" scenarios for each NFL team. For the Rams, though, the situation didn't see that dire. "As with last year, the veteran core performs just well enough to delay a needed rebuild for a team that is not Super Bowl-caliber," he wrote." Basically, the Rams don't do enough to make the Super Bowl but aren't bad enough to tear everything down in 2026. This is effectively what Les Snead and Sean McVay are trying to avoid in 2025 after keeping Stafford and adding Davante Adams to offense. Fortunately for L.A., Snead prepared for the potential of another mid-round playoff loss by acquiring a second first-round pick in 2026. So even if the Rams aren't awful enough for a high pick and even if Stafford leaves, L.A. has the firepower to make a major move with their draft capital to keep the team afloat. It helps, too, that they have a nice young corps on offense and defense as a stable base for any rookie quarterback or veteran.
