Scouting Profile: Walter Nolen - IDL - Ole Miss
Sales Pitch: Explosive 3T with alignment versatility. Primarily wins using athletic ability right now but has the upside to evolve into a game wrecker on the inside with more polish.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Walter Nolen is a former 5-Star recruit from Tennessee, he was an Under Armour All-American in high school where was one of the top recruits in the entire country. He spent his first two collegiate seasons at Texas A&M before transferring to Ole Miss in 2024 where he emerged as one of the top interior lineman in the country, receiving 1st Team All-American and All-SEC honors.
Nolen is a long powerful defender with excellent athletic ability. He primarily wins versus both the run and the pass with his overwhelming traits. He is at his best in the run game in single gap schemes where he can use his burst off the line to create penetration and disruption. Nolen is a difficult player to reach on zone concepts due to his lateral agility, consistently able to keep his leverage while working side to side. He does a good job taking on base blocks at the point of attack due powerful hands that allow him to stun and shed lineman and shows the flexibility to absorb contact and hold his ground when that fails. His movement skills also make him a capable pursuit defender, he takes good angles and plays with a solid motor to make plays working from the backside. Nolen is a menace as a pass rusher when left one on one with interior lineman. He uses a dynamite first step to quickly attack their upfield shoulder and wins a large amount of his reps within a second of the snap. He shows bend and core strength to stay on his rush track and turn the corner after an initial win. His best pass rush reps currently come as a power rusher, where he uses heavy hands and strong leg drive to collapse the pocket, the bull rush and hump move are his favorite moves to achieve this. He is also able to convert speed to power at a high level which makes him very dangerous on stunts and twists. Nolen primarily lines up as a 3-technique over the guard’s shoulder but has experience anywhere from a shade nose to a 5-technique outside the tackle.
Nolen had a breakout season in 2024 but still relies far too heavily on winning with his physical tools. Despite his excellent strength he gets moved off the ball by double teams far too often due to inconsistent pad level. He also doesn’t project well as a two-gap run defender due to average processing and run skills diagnosing skills. Nolen’s pass rush arsenal is fairly limited at this time. He has a couple go too moves but lacks the counters to win late in reps. Far too often when his initial rush fails he becomes a non-factor. He will need to improve his hand quickness and placement at the next level if he wants to reach his ceiling as a pass rusher and run defender.
Nolen profiles as a 3-technique in an even front that runs a single gap run scheme. The physical tools that made him a consensus top recruit are the reason to be bullish on his NFL outlook as well. He will have to improve his technique and mental processing to reach that potential but he projects as a first round pick based off talent and 2024 production even if he isn’t close to scratching his ceiling.