Why Walter Nolen is the best inside pass rusher in the ‘25 class

Nolen is a special talent that could give the Chiefs the pass rush juice they need for 2025.

As we’ve gone through NFL Draft season, I’ve written about the Kansas City Chiefs‘ need for pass rush juice. Whether at defensive end or defensive tackle, the Chiefs need more bodies, particularly guys with pass rush juice.

Throughout last season, it was a struggle for any non-Chris Jones player to generate quick pressures. It’s not a strength of any of the defensive ends, nor any of the defensive tackles after Tershawn Wharton’s departure. The Chiefs need more depth and athleticism along the line.

The good news for the Chiefs? This is an excellent class to find pass rush juice — especially at defensive tackle. In fact, there might be a prospect around their pick that I think might be the best pass rusher in the class not named Abdul Carter: Walter Nolen of Ole Miss. I have Nolen as my fourth-ranked defensive tackle, but in my opinion, he’s the best pass rusher in the class.

Here’s what you need to know about Nolen:

Background

Nolen is not a new name to the football world. In high school, he was the second-ranked recruit in the country and the top defensive lineman. Nolen had offers from every single major program and ended up choosing Texas A&M, which was amassing these amazing recruiting classes under Jimbo Fisher that never worked out due to poor coaching.

Nolen wasn’t a bad player at Texas A&M. In his second year, he was able to get four sacks. Texas A&M was a huge mess, and Fisher was fired, so Nolen and many other high recruits entered the transfer portal. Nolen was still the No. 3 transfer prospect in the country last year and chose Ole Miss.

At Ole Miss, Nolen lived up to his potential among a very strong defensive line. Nolen finished with 35 pressures and six sacks. If you take out his first two games against Furman and Middle Tennessee, Nolen produced 33 pressures in 319 pass rush snaps, beating the 10% pressure rate threshold I like. Nolen made first-team All-American for the Associated Press among other outlets and first-team All-SEC by the coaches.

Nolen did not do athletic testing but did come in at 6’3 3/4” and 296 lbs, with 32.5” arms. I will not with Nolen’s background, there have been concerns about him playing for many different programs — college and high school. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler posted some of the reasoning in his draft guide, explaining why Nolen was at different programs.

Strengths and weaknesses

To talk about Nolen the player, I love his pass rush traits and film. To start with his traits, it makes sense why Nolen was a five-star prospect. His first step and quickness are elite, allowing him to split double teams, shoot gaps — and blow up plays before they even start. Nolen also has great agility, moving across gaps laterally with tremendous explosion.

Nolen also has underrated power for a guy who’s a bit undersized. When watching his film, there are plenty of reps of him pancaking offensive linemen. His pad level is elite for a guy with his agility, and he can explode into blockers with fast and heavy hands and knock them over. As a change-up move, Nolen can be devastating with power.

His pass rush film is incredibly strong. Nolen has a deep bag of moves he can turn to. He can win with bend and agility on the outside shoulder, inside the shoulder with a swipe move, or down the middle with power. He can spin, chop, club or any pass rush move you can think of. He mixes many moves in and seems to have a real plan as a pass rusher.

One area I think Nolen could do more in is rushing off the edge. On film, he looks very good at it. He’s got enough explosiveness and agility for a guy at 290 to rush off the edge. He’s so fluid, you can use him on stunts there and have him explode into a gap. With even more refinement, I think Nolen could also be awesome there.

As a run defender, I think Nolen’s film is solid. Indeed, one of his weaknesses is a lack of length or mass, but he holds up well on film. His pad level is elite, and he can shoot into the backfield. I certainly would have some worries about him taking on double teams, and there are reps of him getting knocked backwards, but it’s not often. I think he’s passable there right now.

How he fits with the Chiefs

Nolen and Chris Jones would be entertaining as a duo. Certainly, Nolen is not a nose tackle, but that doesn’t bother me. Having Nolen’s tools and versatility next to Jones would be a way for him to hit his ceiling. Nolen can rush from any spot – nose tackle, three technique, and defensive end. That’s vital on a team with Chris Jones. Having multiple versatile pieces goes a long way if you want to use Jones as a move piece to attack matchups.

Long-term, Nolen getting any mentoring from Jones would go a long way. Nolen has the traits to be an elite pass rusher in the NFL, and who better to learn from than Jones? There will be limitations playing them together, but the Chiefs need a pass rush in the short term, and building Nolen up as Jones ages would be smart.

The bottom line

It’s rare to get a pass rusher with Nolen’s traits and film at the end of the first round, but it seems possible that it might happen. With how deep the class is at defensive tackle, someone is getting pushed down the board. Nolen has been going later in mock drafts.

I would even advocate a trade-up for Nolen. I view him as that special of a pass rushing prospect. What he and Jones could do together is devastating. If Nolen hits his ceiling, he makes multiple Pro Bowl teams. That is a player worth trading up for. If I had my pick of anyone for the Chiefs, realistically, Nolen would be in my top 2-3, so if the Chiefs get him, I’d give it an A+.

Grade: Round 1 (No. 4 defensive tackle)