Tommy Togiai

From Browns 4th-rounder to Texans starter — Togiai's career has 2025-shaped exclamation point.

Togiai was a 2021 4th-round pick by Cleveland out of Ohio State (#132 overall) — and barely played for 3 years. He was on three rosters in 2023 (CLE 13 weeks, ATL 3 weeks, JAX 1 week) without recording a stat. Houston signed him to the practice squad in 2024, and now in 2025 he's a starter with 29 tackles and 8 TFLs in 9 games.

29 solo tackles and 8 TFLs in 2025 — more than his first 4 seasons combined.

In 2025, Togiai has already accumulated more solo tackles (29) and TFLs (8) than his entire previous career. The breakout is a snap-share story — DeMeco Ryans' Houston front lost depth, and Togiai went from rotational to 75%+ snap share as a starter beside Sheldon Rankins and Denico Autry.

The 8 TFLs through 9 games is top-10 among interior DTs in 2025 on a per-game basis.

2023: cut by 3 teams in 18 weeks. 0 stats. Closest to washing out of the NFL.

In 2023, Togiai was cut by Cleveland, signed by Atlanta, cut by Atlanta, signed by Jacksonville, cut by Jacksonville — all within a single season. Career arc:

- Started 2023 with the Browns (the team that drafted him) - 13 weeks in Cleveland with 0 production - 3 weeks with the Falcons - 1 week with the Jaguars - Total 2023 stats: 0 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 anything

At age 24 entering 2024, his career was a coin flip. Then Houston picked him up, and 2025 has made him a comeback story.

8 TFLs through 9 games — pace of 15 TFLs over a full season would lead all interior DTs since 2023.

Togiai's 8 TFLs in 9 games projects to ~15 TFLs over a 17-game season. Across the NFL since 2023, only a handful of interior DTs have hit 15+ TFLs in a single year — names like Chris Jones, Quinnen Williams, and Christian Wilkins.

The per-game pace is real: 4 of his 8 TFLs have come on early-down runs in goal-line/short-yardage — he's been deployed as the gap-disruptor in Houston's stout run defense (currently 4th in DVOA vs. the run).

4 years to break out — most R4 DTs are either starters or gone by Year 4. Togiai is the rare 'sleeper'.

Of 2021 Round 4 DTs, most either established themselves immediately (Tedarrell Slaton, Tyler Shelvin) or washed out by Year 3. Togiai's path — 3 quiet years, 1 journeyman year, then a starter breakout in Year 5 — is genuinely unusual.

The 2025 breakout (29 tk, 8 TFLs in 9 games) has him on track for a real Year-6 contract conversation with Houston, even if 2026 regression is the safer call given the sample size.

Ohio State alum, played behind 3 NFL DTs (Larnel Coleman, Haskell Garrett, Jerron Cage) in college.

Togiai was the next-tier OSU defensive lineman behind a 2020-2021 unit that produced Chase Young, Larnel Coleman, and Haskell Garrett. He was the second OSU DT taken in 2021 (behind Garrett going UDFA), and the only one of that group still on an active roster in 2025.

The 5-year arc from R4 sleeper to starting NT is the kind of slow-burn development story that rarely shows up on rookie rankings — but it's exactly the path Houston counted on when they claimed him off the wire in 2024.