Jay Toia, UCLA: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Toia was a four-star recruit from Grace Brethren High School in Simi Valley, Calif. in the class of 2021

UCLA nose tackle Jay Toia’s best games flash immense potential for the stout nose tackle. Unfortunately, Toia fails to replicate his top outings and adopts an attacking style that leads to inconsistent performances. He projects as a Day 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

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Jay Toia, IDL UCLA: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Senior nose tackle from Inglewood, Calif.

Background: Toia was a four-star recruit from Grace Brethren High School in Simi Valley, Calif. in the class of 2021. He was the No. 191 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 157 for On3.com. Toia was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals. ESPN ranked him 178th in the nation with an 83 grade out of 100. He originally committed to USC but transferred to UCLA before the start of his freshman season. He entered the transfer portal in the spring of 2024 but returned to UCLA. Toia played both ways along the line and was a PrepStar All-American in 2020. As a junior, he earned First Team Cal-Hi Sports All-State Juniors, All-CIF Division 3, and First Team Los Angeles Daily News All-Area honors after he amassed 43 tackles, seven tackles for losses, 6.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. Toia was a First Team Cal-HiSports All-State Sophomores selection and earned All-CIF Division 4 honors after he made 11 tackles, five tackles for loss, and four sacks. Grace Brethren won the State 2A title in 2018 and was the runner-up in 2017. Toia participated on the track team in shot put and discus. He grew up in Tonga as a rugby player. His cousin, Stanley Ta’ufo’ou, played along the defensive line at USC before transferring to Arizona this past offseason. Toia is brothers with San Jose State defensive lineman Soane Toia, Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Siaki Ika, and Abitoni Toia, who plays rugby in New Zealand.

Injuries & Off-Field: Video of him threatening students in an elevator in 2021, carted off with a leg injury vs. USC in 2023 but didn’t miss a game

Awards: N/A

Pros: Special teams experience on the punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, thick throughout frame, built low to maintain natural leverage, explodes off the line, engages and extends arms early, swim move helps in run and pass game, club move, two-handed swipe, club-swim, spin move, pushes the pocket with strength and some speed to power, hands remain active with counters, power to reset the LOS, good leg drive, some knockback power, generates good power through hands, uses power to separate and shed blocks, core strength and upper body power to rock then toss blockers, decimated Arizona’s interior (2023), no problem anchoring vs. solo blocks, motor runs hot, tries to get hands in passing lanes

Cons: Penalized six times in 2023, arm length may not exceed thresholds by much, not going to out-athlete offensive linemen, pad level rises quickly, times when he fails to keep his frame clean, provides limited (at best) pass rush potential, inconsistent use of pass rush plan, lacks the speed and suddenness to capitalize on pass rush moves, spin move rarely carries him past the o-lineman, hand counters are unpolished, lacks bend to flatten rush angles, washed down the line by down blocks, displaced downfield by duo blocks, short height disadvantage occasionally leads to him being knocked off balance or finished to the ground, limited pursuit range, slides off tackle attempts

Overview: Toia primarily aligns at 2-tech, 2i, 1-tech, and 0-tech for the Bruins but also sees a few snaps at 4i and 3-tech. His thick frame is built low to the ground and gives him a natural leverage advantage. His arms will likely just meet the league’s thresholds or fall slightly below them. Toia explodes off the line but lacks the twitch at his size to out-athlete offensive linemen and beat them with raw tools. His pad level rises quickly after the snap, but this is a limited issue because of his height. Toia engages his hands early in the rep but still fails to keep linemen out of his frame at times. His pass rush plan includes spins, swims, clubs, club-swims, and two-handed swipes. The senior pushes the pocket by driving interior linemen backward with his power. He occasionally shows flashes of modest speed to power. Toia’s hands are active throughout the rush and provide some counters. Unfortunately, his impact as a pass rusher is minimal and shouldn’t be counted on as a strength. He fails to deploy his rush moves and counters on too many reps. Even when Toia wins with a swipe or spin, he lacks the suddenness to draw even with and pass the lineman’s shoulder. Interior players have enough speed to recover and get back into the play before Toia capitalizes on his rush move. The former four-star recruit lacks bend as a pass rusher, and his hand counters need polishing. Toia’s playstyle in run defense focuses on penetrating and creating disruption in the backfield rather than two-gapping or anchoring at the point of attack. He uses his power to reset the line of scrimmage with his leg drive. Toia’s hands pack some knockback power to drive blockers off the line. This upper body power also helps with discarding blocks violently. He doesn’t struggle with anchoring against single blockers but doesn’t flash the anchor to handle duo or down blocks. His height might contribute to some balance issues where taller offensive linemen are able to knock him around and take him to the ground. Toia shows good effort in pursuit but lacks impactful range.

Overall, Toia is an explosive, powerful nose tackle who primarily plays downhill, which limits his ability to two-gap and hold the point of attack. This aggressive approach frequently resets the line of scrimmage, making it a double-edged sword. Toia has some pass rush moves but can’t be counted on to apply pressure consistently.

Role & Scheme Fit: Nose tackle in an even front

Round Grade: Fifth Round

Size: 6'3", 325 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 08-10-24

Updated: 10-16-24