Walter Nolen, Ole Miss: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
Nolen was a five-star recruit from Powell High School, in Powell, Tenn. in the class of 2022
Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen is one of the most gifted but difficult to project prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft because of his lack of instinctual and technical refinement. In the right environment, Nolen could develop into one of the ten best players from this class.
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Walter Nolen, IDL Ole Miss: 2025 NFL Draft Profile
Classification: Junior defensive tackle from Powell, Tenn.
Background: Nolen was a five-star recruit from Powell High School, in Powell, Tenn. in the class of 2022. He was the No. 2 recruit according to 247Sports, No. 2 for Rivals, and No. 1 for On3.com. ESPN ranked him 1st in the nation with a 95 grade out of 100. Nolen began his high school career at Olive Branch High School in Olive Branch, Miss. before a brief stint at IMG Academy. He spent his junior season at St. Benedict at Auburndale in Cordova, Tenn. before finally finishing his high school journey at Powell High School, in Powell, Tenn. He transferred from Texas A&M to Ole Miss for the 2024 season. Nolen amassed 92 tackles, including with 26 for loss, two sacks, and two forced fumbles as a sophomore on his way to earning First Team All-Metro honors. As a senior, he tallied 93 tackles, 33 tackles for loss, 17 sacks, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and three passes defensed as Powell went 13-2 and won the Class 5A State Championship. Nolen also competed in basketball and powerlifting at various points in his high school career. He was born on Oct. 14, 2003.
Injuries & Off-Field: Injured left lower leg against Tennessee and exited game (2023), banged up against Oklahoma, Middle Tennessee State, and South Carolina in 2024
Awards: 2024 First Team All-SEC, 2024 First Team All-American
Pros: Age, arm length checks box, naturally powerful frame, explosive athlete, first step to draw even with the guard’s shoulder, drives power through his hands, initial strike power to take control of reps, powerful club sends linemen stumbling, packs a wallop on stunts, euro steps, cross-chops, club-swim, swim move, rip move, powerful arm extensions drive linemen into the backfield, quality bend to flatten rush angle, absorbs and bounces off blocks to his lower body, dodges or recovers from cut blocks quickly, resets LOS in the run game vs. single blockers, muscles his way between double teams with balance and raw strength, balance at the POA, too quick for guards to reach block, pop to generate quick separation, quick to disengage and flow horizontally in run game, hustles down the line for pursuit tackles, flashes of impressive hustle in pursuit
Cons: Penalized three times in 2024, maturity questions, instincts and processing speed are still developing, modest hip flexibility to flatten rush angles, not maximizing length and athleticism, active hands lack defined purpose, needs to add polished hand counters and more rush moves, lacking pass rush plan on too many reps, needs to show more urgency on some pass rush reps, pad level becomes a disadvantage, pads pop up during swims, size limits gap-shooting ability, sometimes gets caught in the wash while trying to shoot gaps, gap integrity is hit or miss
Overview: Nolen primarily played 2i, 2-tech, and 3-tech at Ole Miss with some snaps at 4i, 4-tech, and 5-tech mixed in. He’s a young defensive tackle who hasn’t had an ideal developmental path. Nolen hasn’t been in the same program for three consecutive years since the start of high school. It’s worth investigating why he moved around so much and considering how this stunted his growth. Nolen’s arms measured in at 32.5 inches at the Combine but checked the box at 33 3/8 inches at his Pro Day. He sports a naturally powerful frame and is an explosive athlete with a unique combination of burst and power. The All-American draws even with the guard’s shoulder thanks to an explosive first step and delivers stunning power through his hands. That power lets Nolen take control of the play and drive the lineman into the pocket. His power also pops looping on stunts and when he uses his club move to uproot offensive linemen. His pass rush plan includes cross-chops, club-swims, and rips. He also uses some euro steps to exchange gaps and set up his rush moves. Nolen flashes enough bend to flatten his rush angles, but he plays with a high pad level that limits his ability to stay low and dip around blockers. There’s some stiffness built in there as well that prevents him from really being a loose athlete. Nolen approaches too many pass rush attempts without a plan. He remains active throughout plays but fails to maximize his athletic traits because of his purposeless approach. He must try to learn and stack more rush moves and counters. Sometimes, Nolen lacks urgency during his rush attempts and takes too long to set up his moves. The former five-star recruit is still developing his instincts and processing speed in the run game. He’s in the see-ball, get-ball phase and hasn’t begun to anticipate block angles or recognize plays at a high level yet. Nolen delivers the force to reset the line of scrimmage when taking on single blockers and is strong enough to muscle his way between double teams. Despite playing with a high pad level, he maintains his balance well at the point of attack. He sometimes succeeds in shooting through gaps, but he’s too upright and broad to consistently slip between linemen. Nolen’s awareness and consideration of gap integrity is a work in progress. He abandons his assignment too easily or fails to place an emphasis on anchoring in his position. The junior is too quick for guards to reach block and delivers the pop on contact to generate immediate separation. He quickly disengages from blocks and hustles after the ball in pursuit.
Overall, Nolen is an athletic, powerful ball of clay who needs a year or two of patient coaching in a stable environment to reach his full potential. Expect him to make plenty of splash plays early in his career as a penetrating 3-tech but also give up some frustrating plays as he develops his instincts and attention to detail. Having a coaching change early in his career could prove detrimental to his development.
Role & Scheme Fit: 3-tech in a 3-4 scheme
Round Projection: Second Round
Size: 6'3 3/4", 296 lbs. (NFL Combine)
Submitted: 12-05-24
Updated: 04-12-25