Walter Nolen
Walter Nolen III is an American professional football defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies and Ole Miss Rebels, earning consensus All-American honors with the latter in 2024. Nolen was selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Early life
Nolen played high school football at three different schools: Olive Branch High School in Olive Branch, Mississippi, as a freshman and sophomore; Saint Benedict at Auburndale in Memphis as a junior; and Powell High School in Powell, Tennessee, as a senior. He also enrolled for a time at IMG Academy but did not play there. His coach at Powell, Matt Lowe, described him as "a young man who has been blessed with size, speed and athleticism."
In his senior year at Powell, Nolen had 93 tackles, 33 tackles for loss, 27 quarterback hurries, and 17 sacks. After the season, he was invited to play in the Under Armour All-America Game. Nolen was named USA Today High School Defensive Football Player of the Year and was rated as the country's top recruit of the 2022 class by the same publication.
Recruiting
Nolen was rated by ESPN as the No. 1 football recruit in the 2022 recruiting class. He was ranked No. 2 by Rivals.com and 247Sports, behind Travis Hunter. Nolen received offers from numerous schools and narrowed his final five to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Tennessee. In November 2021, Nolen committed to play college football for Texas A&M. He later paid an official visit to Tennessee, raising speculation that his commitment was uncertain. He then signed his letter of intent with Texas A&M in December 2021. He was part of a recruiting class at Texas A&M that was rated as the best in the history of recruiting rankings.
College career
On December 24, 2023, Nolen announced he would transfer to Ole Miss. At the conclusion of the 2024 season, Nolen was named a consensus first team 2024 [College Football All-America Team|All-American].
Professional career
Nolen was drafted in the first round with the 16th overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2025 NFL draft. He began his rookie season on the reserve/PUP list due to a calf injury suffered before training camp. Nolen was activated on November 3, ahead of the team's Week 9 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys]. In Week 12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars season|Jacksonville Jaguars], Nolen recorded his first career touchdown after recovering and returning a Trevor Lawrence fumble seven yards. In six appearances during his rookie campaign, he recorded two pass deflections, the fumble recovery touchdown, two sacks, and 11 combined tackles. On December 22, Nolen was placed on season-ending injured reserve due to a knee injury he suffered in Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons season|Atlanta Falcons].