A promising defensive line prospect, Nolen has been in search of a football home since high school.
Every pick in the NFL Draft is a bit of a mystery. If someone had figured out how to project college players, the bust rate would be a heck of a lot lower than it is — and it’s high. Chances are better that you’re going to draft somebody that can’t play a lick than someone who goes on to be an above-average player, much less a star.
I don’t know what camp Ole Miss’s Walter Nolen falls into, but there’s more mystery to him as a prospect than most. The Packers are doing some work trying to untangle that mystery. They hosted Nolen for a visit on April 15, and at number 29 on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board, he’s the highest rated defensive line prospect they’ve met with to this point.
Part of the mystery to Nolen is his history with different programs. Dating back to high school, he’s been enrolled at six different schools and played for five (he left the famous IMG Academy during the COVID-19 pandemic without ever playing a game). He started his college career at Texas A&M, but after two seasons he transferred to Ole Miss, where he had one solid season before declaring for the NFL Draft as a junior.
Another part of the mystery is what player, exactly, you’re getting in Nolen. Statistical production isn’t everything, but Nolen’s counting stats are a bit scattershot. Specifically, he logged 4.5 of his six sacks and nine of his 16 tackles for loss in the first nine games of 2024, most of which were against low-tier non-conference opponents or the lower half of the SEC. He was shut out in both of those categories against LSU, Oklahoma, and Georgia.
Now, to be fair, even the lower half of the SEC is better than a good portion of the rest of college football, and even if he was shut out in the box score against LSU, he still logged seven pressures that day, according to Pro Football Focus. But even the advanced numbers can cut both ways: more than a third of his pressures last season (14 of 35) came against Furman, Middle Tennessee, Wake Forest, Georgia Southern, and Duke — hardly the vanguard of the sport.
There are also some maturity questions regarding Nolen. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler relayed that Nolen has a “history of walking off the practice field mid-session due to frustration.” He’s still just 21 years old; some amount of figuring yourself out is understandable. But teams — maybe including the Packers — will probably want to know what that’s all about.
What’s not a mystery about Nolen is his physical gifts. At his best, he’s a force to be reckoned with. He has prototypical size for a three-technique defensive tackle (a shade under 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds) and might even be able to bump out to end in some schemes. His first step quickness should not be in question, though we don’t have any testing results to put hard numbers to his athletic abilities. His down-in, down-out, game-in, game-out results might be a bit mysterious, even frustrating, but his ability to play at a high level is not. He can compete with anyone at his best.
Most people seem to consider Nolen a tweener first- or second-round pick, and if I had to guess I’d think the Packers would prefer someone with a bit more of a proven track record in the first round. But if they’re looking to add another gap-shooting player with good size to their front-seven, Nolen certainly has the upside to fit the bill.