Walter Nolen 2025 NFL Draft: Ole Miss DT Scouting Report
Coming out of Ole Miss, Walter Nolen is a powerful and athletic defensive tackle. In a talented 2025 NFL Draft class, he is one of the more versatile prospects who can excel in the NFL as a DT. Today, we’ll be breaking down his NFL outlook in this scouting report. We will be breaking down his strengths, areas for improvement, and his potential NFL Draft grade.
Walter Nolen 2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Nolen entered college football as a five-star recruit, ranked among the top prospects in the 2022 class after a dominant high school career that culminated at Powell High School in Tennessee. His journey took him from Texas A&M, where he flashed potential across two seasons, to Ole Miss in 2024, where he emerged as a cornerstone of one of the SEC’s most disruptive defensive fronts. A Consensus All-American in his lone season with the Rebels, Nolen’s blend of athleticism and power has solidified his status as a premier interior defensive line prospect.
Nolen carries a stout, compact frame with a low center of gravity, enhancing his natural leverage. His build is dense and muscular, lacking excess weight, which allows his explosive traits to shine. While his arm length isn’t elite for the position, his quick-twitch athleticism and functional strength more than compensate. Nolen’s burst off the line is rare for a man his size, and his lateral agility stands out when redirecting or pursuing plays.
HT: 6017
WT: 296
HAND: 948
ARM: 3248
40: 4.92
Strengths
- Explosive First Step: Nolen’s get-off is exceptional, often catching interior linemen off guard and allowing him to penetrate gaps before blocks fully develop. His ability to fire into the backfield disrupts both run and pass plays with regularity.
- Power and Leverage: With a naturally low pad level and violent hand usage, Nolen can jolt blockers backward or discard them entirely. His lower-body strength lets him anchor against double teams, though he’s at his best when attacking single blocks.
- Athletic Versatility: Nolen’s agility and change-of-direction skills are uncommon for a defensive tackle, enabling him to excel in stunts, twists, and pursuit along the line of scrimmage. He’s fluid enough to chase down ball carriers sideline-to-sideline.
- High Motor: Relentless in pursuit, Nolen rarely takes plays off. His effort shows up in backside tackles and second-effort pressures, making him a constant thorn in offenses’ sides.
- Pass-Rush Potential: While still developing, Nolen flashes a promising toolbox—bull rushes with leg drive, a quick swim move, and a hump move to disengage. His 6.5 sacks and 35 pressures in 2024 hint at an untapped upside as an interior pass rusher.
Areas for Improvement
- Consistency in Technique: Nolen’s pad level can rise when fatigued, or he doesn’t win early, causing him to lose leverage against stronger linemen. Refining his hand placement and timing will elevate his game.
- Pass-Rush Arsenal: Beyond his go-to moves, Nolen’s counters are underdeveloped. He relies heavily on athleticism and power rather than a polished plan, which savvier NFL linemen could neutralize without further growth.
- Block Shedding: While explosive, Nolen sometimes struggles to disengage once blockers lock onto him, particularly against combo blocks. Improving his ability to shed consistently will make him a three-down force.
- Awareness: Nolen sometimes overruns plays or loses sight of the ball, especially in chaotic situations. Better play recognition will help him finish more of the disruptions he creates.
Conclusion
Nolen is a high-impact prospect with the physical tools to be a day-one contributor and the developmental runway to become a star. His 2024 breakout at Ole Miss silenced doubts about his consistency, but the next step is proving he can refine the nuances of his game at the NFL level—a mid-to-late first-round talent with top-15 potential.
Watching Nolen’s 2024 tape—particularly against LSU, Georgia, and Arkansas—reveals a player who thrives in an attacking, one-gap system. Against LSU, he repeatedly split double teams with a violent initial punch, collapsing pockets and forcing the quarterback to scramble. His Georgia game showcased his range, with a standout play chasing a screen pass 15 yards downfield for a tackle. However, against Arkansas, he occasionally got washed out by combo blocks when his pad level drifted, highlighting the need for technical refinement.
Nolen projects best as a 3-technique in a 4-3 defense, where his quickness and power can wreak havoc in the B-gap. His athletic profile also suits him for a 4i role in odd fronts, though he’s less suited to two-gapping due to his current shedding limitations. Teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Texans, or Pittsburgh Steelers—franchises with a history of maximizing disruptive interior linemen—could unlock his full potential.
With coaching to polish his technique and expand his pass-rush repertoire, Nolen has Pro Bowl upside. His floor is a high-end rotational player who impacts games with his burst and energy, but his ceiling could see him as a perennial All-Pro if he harnesses his raw traits fully.
Round Grade: Mid 1st – Early 2nd Round
Stats: Per Sports Reference
| Season | Team | G | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sk | PD | FR |
| 2022 | Texas A&M | 10 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023* | Texas A&M | 12 | 20 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024* | Ole Miss | 13 | 25 | 23 | 14 | 6.5 | 3 | 2 |
| Career | 35 | 62 | 52 | 26 | 11.5 | 4 | 3 |
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