The Bengals may have a short list of choices at No. 17 overall, but Ole Miss’s Walter Nolen looks like a guy who could bring talent and long-term stability to the Bengals’ defensive line.
In the Cincinnati Bengals’ magical Super Bowl run in 2021, the team’s upstart defense came up clutch in many games. A big part of that unit’s success was the rotational defensive line, comprised of B.J. Hill, D.J. Reader, and Larry Ogunjobi, who routinely made big plays en route to an AFC Championship.
Over the course of the next few offseasons, this effective group was dismantled in free agency. Ogunjobi left after 2021, while Reader went to the Lions last spring. New defensive coordinator Al Golden has his hands full in recreating something close to that trio.
One of the most intriguing interior linemen in this year’s class is Ole Miss’s Walter Nolen. After transferring from Texas A&M, Nolen turned a corner and became one of the most disruptive college defensive linemen last year.
He showed promise as both a solid run-stopper and a pass-rusher, making him one of the most well-rounded linemen in the class. But will off-field character concerns cause him to fall or scare the Bengals off from drafting him?
Walter Nolen
- Height: 6-foot-3
- Weight: 295-304
- Age: 21
- Hometown: Memphis, TN
- Year: Senior
- 2024 Tackles: 48 (114 career)
- 2024 Quarterback Sacks: 6.5 (11.5 career)
- 2024 Tackles for Loss: 14 (26 career)
- 2024 Passes Defended: 3 (4 career)
- 2024 Fumble Recoveries: 2 (3 career)
Background
Nolen came out of high school rated as the No. 1 prospect by ESPN and No. 2 by Rivals.com in the 2022 recruiting class after an outstanding high school career. He received numerous offers from many SEC schools and ultimately committed to Texas A&M.
He then transferred to Ole Miss, where he blossomed over the past two seasons. He earned First-Team All-American honors last year, putting an exclamation point on his final collegiate season.
While the stats in 2024 were definitely solid, one criticism (potentially lingering with NFL teams at the moment) is a slight lack of true, utter dominance after being a top recruit a few years earlier.
Still, Nolen has first-round talent written all over him, but he will need to answer questions, to be sure. With the right coaching and culture, Nolen should have a long and productive pro career.
Strengths and Weaknesses
At the Combine, Nolen noted his reverence for Aaron Donald and told CBS Sports that he intends to mold his game after him. However, Nolen’s height of 6’3” compared to Donald’s 6’0” stature brings differences, as do their overall college stats.
At Pitt, Donald had 29.5 sacks (including two seasons with 11 apiece) and 67 tackles for loss in four seasons. In three seasons at A&M and Ole Miss, Nolen had 11.5 sacks and 26 tackles for loss for his career, respectively.
Still, that doesn’t mean Nolen wasn’t an effective defender. His ability to get under an offensive lineman’s pads and essentially lift them out of position on the line created havoc on numerous occasions. It’s not necessarily an easy trait to develop, even with good height and arm length at interior positions.
In reviewing the college tape of Kris Jenkins Jr. last year, he flashed the ability to both shed blocks and “work through the wash” to still make a disruptive play. This is even more frequent with Nolen’s tape, paving the way for his own big plays or opening up opportunities for others.
He also seems to be more than a “one-trick pony” with his pass-rush moves, which will endear him to many NFL defensive line coaches. Oftentimes, a rookie will have dominant tape but will only be a power or finesse rusher. Nolen has an array of moves that makes him effective.
Unfortunately, the biggest knock on Nolen is some off-field rumblings. His desire to play and other vague rumors have surfaced about him, with some teams reportedly having taken him off their boards altogether.
We’ve had multiple reports that say teams have already removed Walter Nolen from their draft boards.
NOT working out at the NFL Combine just presents more questions.
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) February 27, 2025
Nolen preemptively told the media he wasn’t working out in Indianapolis because he wanted to make sure he put his best foot forward and would do drills at his Pro Day. That makes his meetings with teams of paramount importance to quell any concerns teams may have regarding the above-mentioned rumors.
One could regard this as both a positive and a negative, but early in the pre-draft process, some felt that if he shed some weight, he could move to the edge, too. Unfortunately, we’ve seen these types of transformations work out poorly for the Bengals in the past, so it would seem he’s still best used as an interior player who can move around a little bit.
Outlook
For what it’s worth, the Bengals have shown preliminary interest in Nolen by conducting an interview with him at the Combine. It’s possible that they are intrigued by his skill set but want to get to know him more, should he be the selection at No. 17.
The big caveat here is which way the Bengals might lean on player profiles this year. As we know, Mike Brown took a lot of chances on players with character concerns, especially during the Marvin Lewis era, with mixed results. For every success story like Pacman Jones, Chris Henry, Cedric Benson, and Tank Johnson, a minefield of other failed olive branches litters the Bengals’ history.
Plus, one must consider what has transpired over the past 11 months with 2024 third-round pick Jermaine Burton. He’s in Cincinnati’s doghouse, and it seems to just get worse before getting any better— this after the team’s brain trust swore up and down that they did their due diligence on him.
Regardless, Nolen would check the boxes for both a huge need and likely the best player available at No. 17. Cincinnati needs to revamp its defense to support Joe Burrow, as evidenced by last year’s performances by the unit and the team narrowly missing the playoffs because of them.
In a critical year within “the championship window,” will the Bengals swing for the fences on a perceived boom-or-bust prospect? Or will they opt for safer, lower-ceiling picks to avoid the potential previous disasters they’ve experienced?
