Walter Nolen- 6 Things To Know About Eagles Draft Prospect

Milton Williams is gone. Which means the Eagles will be looking to add a DT. Given their limited cap space and their recent track record in the draft, they might look towards a rookie to fill in the Milton Williams-sized hole. One player they may be looking at is Walter Nolen out of Ole Miss.

Walter Nolen is no stranger to being a highly coveted prospect. In fact, going into the draft as a late-round pick is a step down from when he was entering college. Coming out of Powell High School, he was the consensus top DT in the nation. ESPN and USA Today ranked him as the top recruit period, and Rivals and 247 Sports ranked him 2, with Travis Hunter taking the number 1 spot.

There was good reason for that. In his Senior Year, he racked up 17 sacks, 33 tackles for loss, and 27 QB Hurries.

This is what his coach at Powell High School, Matt Lowe, said about him back when he was being highly recruited.

Walter Nolen spent his first 2 years at Texas A&M. In those 2 years, he racked up 32 pressures, 21 hurries, 3 QB Hits, 1 batted ball, and 5 sacks. Not a bad production for a College DT, but not eye-popping either. Especially for a guy who was the number 1 recruit in the nation.

It was when he transferred to Ole Miss for his Junior Year though that things kicked into high gear. This past season he outpaced the combined totals from his 1st two years combined. He had 35 pressures, 25 hurries, 4 QB hits, 2 batted balls, and 6.5 sacks.

But that is just the pass rush. He also played incredibly well in the run game. Among draft-eligible DTs, he had the 5th most Run Stops, the 6th best run stop rate, and the 5th lowest missed tackle rate for players with at least 20 tackles. He also had 14.5 tackles for loss, was an Outland Trophy finalist, and was a consensus All-American.

As Eagles fans know with Jalen Carter, being a great DT is not just about the stats you put up, but also about helping your teammates as well. There were games where Carter had little statistical production, but where his dominance led to wins for his teammates.

The same went for Walter Nolen at Ole Miss. The Rebels defense had a historic season with 52 combined sacks and 120 tackles for loss. His consistent disruption in the backfield played a big part in that.

His teammate DE Jared Ivey, who is also projected to be a late-round draft selection and has been connected to the Eagles, said this about Nolen back in October after Ole Miss's win over South Carolina.

There are a lot of vague talks around Walter Nolen about character concerns. They have followed him going back to his High School Days, throughout his time at Texas A&M, and to Ole Miss. There are little to no hard examples given, but it is out there, and enough for some teams to have reportedly already taken him off their boards.

It is hard to know what to think about this when the accusations are this vague. But one thing that should not be held against him is how often he changed schools. He played at 3 different High Schools, in addition to the IMG where he never played. Then of course he played at two different Colleges. Some people use that as evidence he wears out his welcome at places.

But the High School moves were reportedly because his family moved for work. He only left Texas A&M after they fired Jimbo Fisher. Could there have been off-the-field issues at each of those stops? Sure. But there is no reporting available backing that up.

There are players in this draft who face real accusations of real wrongdoing. But everything surrounding Nolen is vague. Every article that talks about it says character concerns with no examples of ways he has caused problems, or what those problems even are.

There were similar vague complaints about Micah Parsons out of Penn State. It feels like the type of thing scouts just put out there hoping a guy will fall. Unless there is more concrete info on what those "character concerns," are, I can't put much stock into those complaints.

It is also important to note all of these players are still young men, and some immaturity is to be expected. People can mature, and people can grow up.

Good coaching, like any player drafted to the Eagles would get from people like Vic Fangio or Clint Hurt, would help. He also would have Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter to lean on who had similar accusations of poor work ethic thrown at them out of college. They did not seem to be an issue at all this year for the Eagles.

By the way, if there are effort concerns, you don't see it much in the game. As Devin Jackson noted in the Tweet earlier in this article, his QB pursuit can be relentless.

Walter Nolen is certainly not short on confidence. He referred to himself as the next Aaron Donald at the Senior Bowl.

"I’m the next Aaron Donald, man... I feel like I can do it all. Aaron Donald did it all at the highest level. I’m a younger, upcoming version of Aaron Donald. I just can’t wait to show everybody that when I get this opportunity I’m being blessed with."

Nolen actually got a chance to talk to Donald at the NFL Combine.

“I heard you said you’re the next Aaron Donald, man. So keep doing your thing, man. Hopefully you have a long career, a better career than what I had. I’ll be looking out for you, I’ll be watching for you and see how this thing turns out for you.”

You have to love the confidence. He has a lot he needs to do to back it up.

The guy the Eagles would be trying to replace is Milton Williams. So why not replace him with a similar player?

PFF did a whole piece giving comps for players in this draft to NFL players. Milton Williams was the comp for Nolen. And it makes sense. Both have similar builds and similar explosive traits. Williams shot onto the scene with his elite performance at his Pro Day. Nolen did not test at the combine, but when he does test at the Ole Miss Pro Day, you will likely see similar results given what he has shown on the field.