Walter Nolen

Former defensive tackle at Ole Miss. 2024: 5.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 47 tackles.

DT · Ole Miss · Jr. · #2

6′4″ · 290 lb · Powell, TN

CFB Index 95 · #3 of 285 interior linemenLow confidenceConsensus AAArizona — drafted 2025, Rd 1, Pick 16, #16 overall

Recruiting

5★

DL recruit

No. 2 nationally · Signed with Texas A&M

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive tackle at Ole Miss. 2024: 5.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 47 tackles.

Signed as a 5-star recruit to Texas A&M in 2022.
Transferred from Texas A&M to Ole Miss in 2024.
Drafted round 1 by the Arizona in 2025.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Ole Miss, 112 tackles, an All-American season (2024) — drafted at #16 overall by Arizona.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

202210 games

Signed with Texas A&M5-star out of Powell

202413 games

Entered the portal
All-America10 selectors
All-SECfirst

2025

Drafted by Arizonaround 1, pick 16

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★★

#2 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2022–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

R1 · #16

Arizona · 2025

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

10 honors · 2 categories

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2024)

8 first-team selectors

🥈

ALL-SEC · 1ST TEAM

All-SEC 1st team (2024)

Badges

Top-10 Recruit

Coaching lineage · 2022–2024

1 coach

2022–2024

Lane Kiffin

Ole Miss

Played his entire career under Lane Kiffin.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

ArizonaEntering 2nd NFL season

#16Rd 1 · Pick 16

ArizonaEntering 2nd NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Texas A&M5-7HC: Jimbo Fisher · Balanced

2023Texas A&M7-6HC: Elijah Robinson · Balanced

2024Ole Miss10-3HC: Lane Kiffin · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

95All-America level #3 of 285?

Low confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (98th percentile). Strength: sacks (96th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Tackles for loss#41 / 2892 · 98th pct

13.0

Sacks#92 / 2892 · 96th pct

5.5

QB hurries#255 / 2892 · 89th pct

Tackles#697 / 2892 · 76th pct

Solo tackles#781 / 2892 · 72nd pct

Passes defended#755 / 2892 · 67th pct

Forced fumbles#55 / 700 · 46th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	3.2	0.8	0.2	0.1
Road5g	4.2	1.4	0.7	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-78g	3.2	0.8	0.3	0.1
Weeks 8+5g	4.2	1.4	0.6	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pete Golding

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Consensus All-American

First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

95 · #3 of 285 interior linemen

Former five-star. Now #3 at the position.

Selector Grid · 2024

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Ole Miss	47	25	13.0	5.5	2	--	--
2023	Texas A&M	36	20	8.0	3.5	1	--	--
2022	Texas A&M	29	17	2.5	1.0	--	--	--
Career		112	62	23.5	10.0	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 11 · 2024

W 28–10

vs Georgia

1 SOLO · 2 TOT · 1 REC

With J. Dart — 199 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 89.6 · 50 rush yds (8 car) · F. Masin — 54 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 65 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 76-0vs Furman	2	1	1.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 2	W 52-3vs Middle Tennessee	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 40-6@ Wake Forest	4	2	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 52-13vs Georgia Southern	4	1	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 5	L 17-20vs Kentucky	7	4	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 27-3@ South Carolina	5	4	3.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 7	L 26-29@ LSU	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 26-14vs Oklahoma	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 63-31@ Arkansas	2	1	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 11	W 28-10vs Georgia	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 17-24@ Florida	8	7	3.0	1.0	—	1	Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 14	W 26-14vs Mississippi State	8	2	3.5	1.5	—	0	3.5 TFL
Bowl	W 52-20vs Duke	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		47	25	13.0	5.5	—	2

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology