Unpacking Future Packers: No. 27, Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen

USA Today

31-03-2025

Unpacking Future Packers: No. 27, Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen
It sounds like Walter Nolen had a good first day at the Senior Bowl.
The Ole Miss DT was one of 10 players on the American roster I listed for Packers fans to monitor this week.
https://t.co/bbaua8bYAM pic.twitter.com/shj4olRU07 — Brennen Rupp (@Brennen_Rupp) January 28, 2025
The Unpacking Future Packers Countdown is a countdown of 100 prospects who the Green Bay Packers could select in the 2025 NFL draft.
A position that the Green Bay Packers could target with the 23rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft is defensive tackle.
Kenny Clark is coming off the worst season of his career and is entering his 10th year in the league. His play in 2024 could just be a blip on the radar, or it could be a sign that a decline is coming. Devonte Wyatt may or may not have his fifth-year option picked up, and even if it's picked up, will the Packers go beyond that and give him a second contract? Karl Brooks has shown he can be a valuable member of the rotation.
As the Packers look to bolster the interior of their defensive line, a potential target in the first round is Walter Nolen. The Ole Miss defensive tackle checks in at No. 27 in the Unpacking Future Packers Countdown.
A transfer from Texas A&M, Nolen enjoyed a career year during his lone season as a Rebel. He recorded career highs in tackles (48), tackles for loss (14) and sacks (6.5). During his two seasons at College Station, Nolen recorded 12 tackles for loss and five sacks.
Ole Miss Defensive Tackle Walter Nolen Last Season:
🔵 88.9 PFF Grade (3rd)
🔵 35 QB Pressures (6th)
🔵 13 TFL's/No Gain (2nd)
🔵 91.6 Run Defense Grade (2nd)@OleMissFB pic.twitter.com/QOLf4bnKmg — PFF College (@PFF_College) March 7, 2025
"Nolen's greatest strength is his speed and power combo off the line of scrimmage," Devin Jackson, an NFL Draft reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, said. "For a sub 300 pound defensive linemen, he's got some real power behind his hands and is incredibly slippery knifing through opposing offensive lines."
Nolen is a twitchy interior defender. He wins with his quick get-off and violent hands. He plays with great power and converts speed to power. While he may not always get home, he routinely impacts the integrity of the pocket. The Texas A&M transfer has a nice bag of tricks in his pass rush repertoire and would bolster any team's interior pass rush with his blend of upfield quickness and strength. To go along with his 6.5 sacks, Nolen recorded 35 pressures this past season.
"The world is Nolen's oyster as a pass rusher," Jackson said. "He's got cross chop ability, can rush from multiple alignments along a defensive line, and his speed to power conversion is lethal. His variety as a pass rusher can keep interior offensive linemen guessing."
Nolen is an explosive mover and a backfield disruptor. The Ole defensive tackle gets upfield quickly with a lightning-quick first step. He has a flexible lower body and stays balanced through gaps. Nolen has excellent foot quickness to to easily change directions. He finished this past season with 32 run stops.
"Nolen is not your typical stack and shed defensive lineman but he's still impactful, and primarily using his twitchy first step and using quick swim and rip moves to make splashy tackles in the backfield," Jackson said. "There are reps of him too using his hands and then his speed to slip off of down blocks, but overall he could be stronger maintaining his gap integrity and taking blocks head one."
Fit with the Packers
Brian Gutekunst made it crystal clear during the NFL Scouting Combine that they need the defensive line to create more chaos if they are going to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
"We need to affect the quarterback more in our front four, with just four players," Gutekunst said. "I'm excited about the guys we have in the room, we'll see if we add to it, but that's gotta get better if we're going to accomplish our goals we want to accomplish in this season."
Enter Nolen. He causes plenty of chaos behind the line of scrimmage due to his first-step quickness and his play strength.
Turn on the Ole Miss tape against Florida this past season and you can quickly see the vision for what Nolen can bring to Green Bay's defensive front. He was constantly disrupting the action in the backfield. He finished the game with three tackles for loss, one sack, seven run stops and four pressures.
"If you're drafting Nolen, you're drafting a player that has incredible potential and talent to be a top flight interior pass rush talent," Jackson said. "His pass rusher variety and explosiveness was difficult to slow down, and while he needs to round out his game more as a run defender, he's a three down player who has Pro Bowl talent. Harnessing that talent and getting him to lock in on every down and hold his ground will be key to unlocking his ceiling."
Smart money suggests that Clark will bounce back in 2025 and be more comfortable in Jeff Hafley's system. Even if the Packers decide Wyatt is part of their long-term plans, a team can never have enough impactful players on the defensive line.
Nolen has all the tools in the shed to develop into a game wrecker. He's fully capable of taking over games. He'd bolster Green Bay's interior pass rush and could help create more splash plays against the run. With his size, athleticism and age (he just turned 21 on March 30), it would not be surprising if the Packers drafted Nolen with the 23rd overall pick.