2025 NFL Scouting Report: Walter Nolen

Prospect Summary:

Towards the end of the Jimbo Fisher era, the Aggies produced some fantastic recruiting classes with some star athletes. Nolen was among them, and he saw the field during his freshman season. In 2023, he had four sacks and 37 tackles. After the season, he transferred to Ole Miss to join a talented defensive line with Princely Umanmeilen and Jared Ivey. In his final season of college football, Nolen had 48 tackles with 6.5 sacks and two passes batted.

On the positive side, Nolen can be a disruptive defender at the point of attack. Nolen is an athletic defender who gives a good effort as a rusher and uses his hands and feet at the same time. In the pass rush, Nolen is more disruptive than productive. He is quick to fire his gap as Nolen has a good burst off the ball, and he gets into offensive linemen faster than they expect. Nolen uses his speed to push upfield and create some interior pressure. However, he can get tied up after his initial burst, and as a result, you do not see Nolen produce many sacks. He needs to improve his pass-rushing moves to shed those second-effort blocks and get home more often. If Nolen maintains his current level of play or just has marginal improvement, he might be a 4-6 sack-per-year defender who is more of a contributor in the pass rush rather than a difference-maker.

As a run defender, Nolen is inconsistent. There are times when he anchors and holds his ground well against downhill runs. There are also plays where he darts into the backfield, blowing up the run and causing critical disruption in the backfield. However, there are also plays where Nolen gets utterly destroyed. The tape was worse at Texas A&M compared to last season at Ole Miss, but there are still plays where Nolen is getting knocked back off the line.

In speaking with sources at five teams, the opinions were very split on Nolen. A couple felt that Nolen’s excellent physical talent and improved play at Ole Miss could lead to him being a first-round pick. Sources at three teams said character concerns and bad tape had them projecting Nolen to day two. One playoff team said they had Nolen as a mid-rounder. Hence, Nolen has emerged as a real love/hate prospect. In the 2025 NFL Draft, Nolan could go as high as the first round and probably won’t go lower than the third round.